Dutch-Moroccans demand compensation from Geert Wilders over rally speech

About 40 Dutch-Moroccans had the chance to demand compensation from Geert Wilders in court on Monday as the hate speech trial against the PVV leader continued. According to the aggrieved parties, Wilders is responsible for the acceptance of discrimination in the Netherlands, AD reports.

Wilders is facing various counts of hate-speech and inciting hatred and discrimination charges because of statements he made during a rally in The Hague in 2014. At one point he said that The Hague should be a city with fewer problems "and if possible fewer Moroccans". A few days later he asked a cafe full of people whether they want more or fewer Moroccans in the country, they responded by chanting "fewer, fewer, fewer".

According to the victims' lawyers, Wilders caused much unrest and anxiety among Moroccan Dutch with his statements. Wilders' hurtful statements also meant that discrimination is increasingly accepted by Dutch citizens and politicians, the lawyers said. The about 40 victims are demanding 500 euros each in compensation for causing "anger, dismay and powerlessness in tens of thousands of families" in the Netherlands. Lawyer Goran Sluiter called the amount "entirely reasonable".