Wilders' lawyer demands that hate-speech case be dropped

The third pre-trial hearing in the "less Moroccans" hate speech trial against PVV leader Geert Wilders happens in court today. His lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops will try to convince the court to drop the case immediately, NOS reports. All lawyers get this opportunity if they believe that the Public Prosecutor is incompetent or should be declared inadmissible for not complying to the rules, according to the broadcaster. Knoops initially had to argue his case for why the trial should be stopped in May, but neither he or Wilders showed up. According to the lawyer, he had too little time to prepare. The court rejected many of his investigation requests, which means that he had to investigate himself. Despite criticism from the Prosecutor, the court is now giving Knoops a second chance for his "preliminary defense". According to NOS, one of Knoops complaints is that hate-speech charges pressed against Wilders were "recruited", so can not be used. The court will not make a decision today on whether or not the trial will continue. Should Knoops fail to convince the court to drop the case, the official trial will start in late October.