Live Update arrow right icon From the Liveblog of Thursday, November 17, 2016

Dutch prosecutor urges fine for anti-Islam lawmaker Wilders

17 November 2016, 2:13 pm
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Prosecutors are asking a Dutch court to convict populist anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders and fine him 5,000 euros ($5,360), saying he deliberately insulted and incited hate against Moroccans.

The politically charged trial centers on comments that Wilders made before and after the Dutch municipal elections in 2014. At one meeting in a Hague cafe, he asked supporters whether they wanted more or fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands. That sparked a chant of “Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!” — to which he replied “we’ll take care of it.”

Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-Islam Freedom Party, holds a sign reading "No Hate Imams in the Netherlands" in Utrecht, central Netherlands, April 9, 2015. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-Islam Freedom Party, holds a sign reading “No Hate Imams in the Netherlands” in Utrecht, central Netherlands, April 9, 2015. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

Prosecutor Wouter Bos said Thursday that the court should “send a clear signal that statements like these do not belong in the Netherlands.”

Wilders has branded the case a political trial and is refusing to attend. The verdict is scheduled for December 9.

— AP

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