The Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders has been found guilty of inciting discrimination against Dutch Moroccans in a verdict that is expected to intensify the debate about migration in the Netherlands.
A panel of three judges ruled that the Freedom party (PVV) leader’s comments in a post-election speech in 2014 were “demeaning and thereby insulting towards the Moroccan population”. Hendrik Steenhuis, chairman of the judges, said the remarks were clearly aimed at an ethnic population group and delivered in a televised speech for maximum effect.
However, the court cleared Wilders of the charge of inciting hatred and imposed no fine or sentence, ruling that a criminal conviction was sufficient punishment for a politician in Wilders’ position.
Neither Wilders nor his lawyer, Geert-Jan Knoops, were in court to hear Friday’s verdict. Immediately afterwards Wilders issued a press release saying he would appeal and describing the court’s decision as “a great loss for democracy and freedom of expression”.
The verdict comes three months before Dutch voters go to the polls in a general election in which Wilders has vowed to put migration and “Islamisation” at the heart of the campaign. His party’s draft manifesto includes pledges to close every mosque in the Netherlands and ban the Qur’an from public buildings.
Latest opinion polls put the PVV in front, on about 24% of the vote. Since the election of Donald Trump in the US, Wilders has pulled ahead of his nearest rival, the Liberals (VVD) led by the prime minister, Mark Rutte.
Rutte has repeatedly said he would not go into government with the PVV unless Wilders withdrew his remarks on Moroccans, and the other main parties have ruled out cooperation. But under the Dutch proportional representation system the leader of the largest party is conventionally given the first shot, and if Wilders has a clear lead it might be impossible to build a coalition without him.
The public prosecution service charged Wilders after police received nearly 6,000 complaints about a speech he gave following local elections in March 2014. After his party had narrowly failed to become the largest group on The Hague’s city council, Wilders asked a roomful of supporters if they wanted to have “more or fewer Moroccans” in the country. When the crowd shouted back “Fewer!”, he replied: “Well, we’ll take care of that.”
Wilders denounced the trial from the outset as politically motivated and an attack on free speech, and initially boycotted the hearings at the high-security court complex in Schiphol. In a video message posted on his Twitter feed on Friday, he attacked the “shameful sentence” and vowed he would “never be silent”.
“The Netherlands have become a sick country,” he said. “I am not a racist and neither are my voters. This sentence proves that you judges are completely out of touch. Support for the Party for Freedom is stronger than ever and keeps growing every day. The Dutch want their country back.
“Today I was convicted in a political trial which, shortly before the elections, attempts to neutralise the leader of the largest and most popular opposition party. But they will not succeed, not even with this verdict, because I speak on behalf of millions of Dutch.”
It was the second time Wilders had been taken to court over remarks made in the political arena. In 2011 he was acquitted of discriminating against Muslims after describing Islam as a “fascist” religion in various interviews. On that occasion he described the verdict as a “victory for free speech”.
Political commentators have warned that Friday’s outcome could polarise the debate on migration in the Netherlands still further and harden support for Wilders among his core vote. “To these voters this is the ultimate proof of how far we have fallen in the Netherlands,” sociologist Koen Damhuis told the NRC newspaper. “They won’t walk away from Wilders if he’s found guilty. Moreover, PVV voters think he should be given a statue for the stance he has taken.”