Wilders' lawyer to stay on in hate speech trial

Lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops will continue defending Geert Wilders in the hate speech trial against the PVV leader centered around statements he made about wanting "fewer Moroccans" in the Netherlands while campaigning in The Hague in 2014. The lawyer made his intentions to stay on the trial clear in a press release on Thursday, NOS reports.

There were speculations that Knoops would resign after a requsal request against one of the judges on the trial was denied. Knoops filed the request on behalf of Wilders because they feel that judge Elianne van Rens is biased. After the request was denied Knoops said that he and Wilders will consider whether continuing is worthwhile. He stated that the continuation of the process is only worth while if the appearance of bias is removed from the court.

"The rejection of my recusal request on 4 November on the basis of, among oother things, the fact that judges are human and may also make mistakes (!), strenghtened the image of an unfair process, as outlined in the recusal hearing." the lawyer writes in the press release, according to NOS. "After careful consideration, the defense will continue to participate in the process in order to at least secure a full appeal."