Wilders attorney: We didn’t leak our own defense

Geert Wilders' lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops vehemently denies that he or the PVV leader was responsible for leaking a legal brief detailing their defense strategy in the hate speech trial against Wilders. "I am struck speechless and disapprove of this apparent leak. I want to emphasize that it did not end up in the newspaper through us. This is very serious and I will also discuss it with the court on Friday", Knoops said to newspaper AD. A pre-trial hearing in the hate speech trial just started in the extra security court in Amsterdam. The Public Prosecutor will speak first. Wilders will have a chance to have his say at the end. A group of Pegida followers are gathered in front of the court, according to AD's live blog. The anti-Islam movement want to show support for anti-Islam Wilders with demonstration. Wilders is facing charges of discrimination and incitement of hatred against a group of people based on their race, in this case Moroccans. This is about statements he made during an election campaign in The Hague in 2014. On March 12th of that year he said that The Hague should become "a city with fewer burdens and if possible fewer Moroccans". On March 19th he asked a cafe full of people if the want "more or fewer Moroccans". On his way to court on Friday morning, Wilders tweeted: "No one will silence me. No terrorist, no prime minister and also no court."