The highly-anticipated trial of Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders opens at a top security court Monday with the controversial MP facing hate speech charges as the country gears up for next year’s parliamentary elections.
Wilders, 53, is to appear before a three-judge bench on charges of insulting a racial group and inciting racial hatred after comments he made about Moroccans living in The Netherlands.
All eyes will be on the fortress-like court building near Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport to see how the trial impacts Wilders fortunes in the run-up to the March 15 polls.
Set to last until November 25, the trial focuses on a comment made at a March 2014 local government election rally, when the platinum-haired politician asked supporters whether they wanted “fewer or more Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands?”
When the crowd shouted back “Fewer! Fewer!” a smiling Wilders answered: “We’re going to organise that.”
It is the second such trial for Wilders who was acquitted on similar charges in 2011.
His 2014 statements were met with outrage including from the small, but vocal Dutch Muslim community. An avalanche of 6,400 complaints followed.
They were also condemned in the Dutch parliament with parties shunning any cooperation with Wilders and his Freedom Party (PVV) despite its rising popularity, particularly among conservative Dutch voters.