fewer Moroccans

The court in The Hague will start the hate speech appeal against PVV leader Geert Wilders next week Thursday. Eleven days were set aside for the trial, which will be held in the high security court at Schiphol, RTL Nieuws reports. 

Geert Wilders and his lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops want the appeal in the hate speech trial against the PVV leader postponed until after the Public Prosecutor decided what to do with discrimination charges pressed against D66 leader Alexander Pechtold over a remark he made about Russians.

Wilders and Knoops sent the request for postponement to the Court of Appeal in The Hague on March 1st, the PVV confirmed to RTL Nieuws. 

PVV leader Geert Wilders expressed his doubts about the neutrality of judge Jeanne Gaakeer, the president of the court of law in The Hague, who is handling the appeal of the hate speech trial against him. According to Wilders, Gaakeer is chairman of a foundation that previously awarded a prize to Sinead Wendt, a left-wing activist involved in anti-Wilders protests.

The appeal in the hate speech trial against PVV leader Geert Wilders starts in the high security court at Schiphol on Tuesday. The trial revolves around statements Wilders made about wanting fewer Moroccans in The Hague while campaigning in 2014. In December last year, Wilders was found guilty of hate speech, but not given a punishment. Both Wilders and the Public Prosecutor appealed.

The lawyers assisting the claimants in the appeal of the hate speech against PVV leader Geert Wilders, are struggling to get compensation for their work from the Legal Assistance Board. One of the lawyers asked that the appeal, set to start at the end of October, be postponed until the matter is sorted out, AD reports.

PvdA parliamentarians will no longer automatically boycott any proposal made by their PVV colleagues, but will instead assess each proposal's content before making a decision, PvdA leader Lodewijk Asscher announced. PVV leader Geert Wilders is pleased with this decision. "Good of Asscher this new road and as it should be: evaluate on content and nothing else", he said, ANP reports.

Far-right Dutch politician Geert Wilders, on trial for hate speech, said he has a responsibility to pointedly address the problems he sees in Dutch society no matter how sensitive the topic. “I’m still here. I’m never giving up,” Wilders said in court as part of his closing statement.

The Public Prosecutor abused its power by charging Geert Wilders with hate speech, according to the PVV leader's lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops in court on Friday. According to the lawyer, the Prosecutor charged Wilders because he doesn't like Wilders' beliefs, not because theya re punishable, Telegraaf reporter Saskia Belleman tweets live from within the court room.

Public Prosecutor Wouter Bos believes that the hate speech trial against Geert Wilders revolves around two fundemental values in Dutch society: freedom of expression and protection against discrimination, he said in court on Wednesday, NU.nl reports.

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.

PVV leader Geert Wilders' statements calling for "fewer Moroccans" while campaigning in The Hague in 2014, were not incitement to discrimination, but a "proposal for immigration restriction", Pau Cliteur said as expert witness for the defense in court on Wednesday, NOS reports.