| Edwin Wagensveld | |
| Image Upright: | yes |
| Birth Date: | 1969 |
| Organization: | Pegida |
Edwin Wagensveld (born 1969)[1] is a Dutch anti-Islam activist, convicted criminal and leader of Pegida Netherlands.[2] [3] [4] He has managed to "create a spectacle generating broad media coverage" with his anti-Islam protests and Quran desecrations.[5]
Wagensveld has been the leader of Pegida Netherlands since November 2014, at a time when he owned a small internet-based business selling non-lethal weapons, self-defence articles and outdoors products.[1] [6] He had previously that year participated in a Hogesa demonstration.[1] He lives in Germany close to the Dutch border, and commutes to the Netherlands to stage demonstrations, and is a staunch supporter of Geert Wilders.[1] In 2016, he was revealed to have been patrolling for refugees on the border between Bulgaria and Turkey with Tatjana Festerling.[7]
In April 2018, Wagensveld was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for tax evasion.[8]
He was investigated by Dutch police for tearing out pages of the Quran and calling it a "fascist book" in January 2023 in front of the Dutch parliament building.[3] His desecrations of the Quran contributed to the diplomatic Quran crisis that year.[3] In August, he trampled on and tore up a Quran outside the Turkish embassy in The Hague.[9] During his subsequent trial in November, he tore apart another copy of the Quran.[4] He was sentenced to forty hours of community service.[10] In January 2024, he was violently attacked during a demonstration in Arnhem after he tried to burn a Quran.[11] In March, he was arrested in Arnhem for pulling a Quran on a dog leash.[12]