A Dutch court declined to ban an anti-Koran film made by a politician, as requested by a group representing Dutch Muslims, the Associated Press reports.

The group requested the court to ban the film, as it was insulting to Muslims, linking terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists with Koran verses that encouraged violence against believers of other religions.

In a written judgment published Monday, the Hague District Court explained that the right to free speech allowed politician Geert Wilders to criticize radical Muslims, as well as the holy book of Islam.

The 15-minute film made by Dutch right-wing legislator Geert Wilders caused much controversy in many parts of the world, depicting Islam as a ticking time bomb that endangered the West. Even before the film was released on the Internet, huge protests, involving more than 15,000 people took place in Afghanistan.

A huge protest also took place in Pakistan on Sunday, with more than 25,000 people gathering to demonstrate against the film, shouting slogans against Holland and Denmark, while burning the two countries’ flags.

A group of protesters also gathered in front of the Dutch embassy in Tehran, to demonstrate peacefully. The group consisted of 40 students, who chanted against America and Israel.

Many Islamic and Arab leaders were offended by the film and Iran’s parliament speaker, Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, addressed the Muslim nations on Sunday, asking them to boycott Dutch products, in order to protest against the film that denigrated Islam.