AMSTERDAM: Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders said on Sunday he had ended a contest for sacrilegious cartoons, only hours after announcing the contentious event.

In a tweet posted on Sunday morning, Wilders said international attention on the contest had enabled him to make a point about the importance of freedom of speech. “Mission accomplished. End of contest,” he wrote.

Wilders cancelled a similar contest in August last year after police arrested a man who had threatened to kill him over his plan.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2019