Far-right leader Wilders acquitted of hate speech charge

The right-wing politician was acquitted by a Dutch court The extreme Wilders was given preference over the incitement to hatred and discrimination charge but upheld his conviction for insulting an ethnic group.

Wilders was accused of leading calls to “reduce the number of Moroccans” in the Netherlands at an election rally in 2014. In 2016, he was convicted of insulting an ethnic group and inciting discrimination.

But the 56-year-old anti-Islamic politician described the case as a mock trial (intended to sway public opinion) and challenge the verdicts. He went on to say that his comments should be protected by his right to freedom of expression.

Wilders describes some Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands as “scum”

What was the sentence issued by the judges?

While delivering their verdict, judges in Amsterdam said that the leader of the Populist Freedom Party had gone too far during a local election campaign six years ago when he made his supporters shout that they wanted fewer Moroccans in the country.

As the crowd chanted “Minus! Minus!” The smiling Wilders replied, “We’ll take care of that.”

Appellate judges said that this was offensive to members of the Moroccan community in the Netherlands.

However, the judges said that while the chants were insulting, Wilders raised them for political purposes, which did not come down to the level of being considered incitement to discrimination.

Consequently, the judges rejected allegations that Wilders incited discrimination, reversing a lower court decision. The court also dropped the hate speech charges against Wilders.

Thus, Wilders will not face a prison sentence, nor will he pay a fine of five thousand euros, which the prosecutor had demanded.

The presiding judge said Wilders “actually paid a heavy price over the years for expressing his opinion.”

The trial of Wilders, one of Europe’s most prominent far-right leaders, was seen as placing the right to freedom of expression against the right of ethnic and religious minorities to be free from verbal abuse and discrimination.

In the original trial in 2016, the prosecution took testimony from Dutch people of Moroccan origin who said that Wilders’ statements made them feel like they were “third-class citizens.”

Wilders was tried in 2011 for statements against Islam, such as comparing Islam to Nazism and calling for a ban on the Quran. He was acquitted and the case was generally seen as providing propaganda support to the populist leader.