The court in The Hague has given no further punishment, following comments made by Geert Wilders in 2014
The Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders of the PVV party was found guilty by the court in The Hague Friday of making ‘group insults’ on the evening of the municipal elections in 2014. He was acquitted of inciting hatred and discrimination. The PVV went on to garner 0.2 percent of votes in the elections.
Mr. Wilders will not be punished because, according to the court, as a democratically elected politician he has been paying a public price for his statements for years.
Wilders has announced that he will appeal to the Supreme Court. “The Netherlands has become a corrupt country,” said the PVV leader after the ruling. “I will always continue. This will make me and the PVV stronger.”
Wilders has previously been convicted of ‘group insults’ and incitement to hatred and discrimination in 2016. The court did not impose any punishment at that point, either.
Both Wilders and the Public Prosecution Service had appealed against the court’s initial decision. The appeal in the ‘less Moroccans‘ trial (as it became known in Dutch media) was heard by the Court of Appeal in The Hague, but for security reasons the hearings and the judgment were in the extra secure court at Schiphol.
Image via Wikimedia user Dickelbers. License here.
