THE HAGUE, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Dutch right wing politician Geert Wilders objected the court in The Hague after the court on Thursday ruled that the criminal proceedings in the appeal case against the Party for Freedom (PVV) leader will not be postponed.
At an extra-secured court room near Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, the substantive phase in the proceedings started on Thursday.
Wilders asked the court to stall the proceedings, so more research could be done. He wants to hear, among other things, the prosecutor who has done research into statements of liberal democrats D66 leader Alexander Pechtold and wants to see papers explaining why the prosecutor decided not to prosecute Pechtold for, according to Wilders, similar comments he was convicted for.
The court refused to grant his request and ruled that the proceedings should continue as scheduled. Wilders reacted by calling the court "biased" and added: "You cannot give me the honest proceedings I had hoped for."
A special court commission will now decide whether the case will continue with these judges or with new judges. The session was suspended after the objection.
In February this year Pechtold had said: "I have yet to meet the first Russian who corrects his mistakes himself."
Pechtold made his remark after the then Dutch foreign minister Halbe Zijlstra had apologized for having lied about a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Seven people filed a complaint against Pechtold because of his comment, but the public prosecutor said that the politician had not insulted an entire group of people and should not be prosecuted.
The public prosecution thinks the two cases are incomparable and that extra research is therefore unnecessary. The court followed the prosecutor and ruled on Thursday that no parties or documents from the Pechtold case need to be heard or added to the Wilders case.
In December 2016 Wilders was found guilty in the so-called "hate speech trial" for insulting Moroccans as a group and inciting discrimination.
He was convicted for statements made in 2014. In his speech after the municipal elections campaign that year, Wilders asked his supporters whether they wanted "more or fewer" Moroccans, with the attendees cheering "fewer, fewer" as their answer. "Good, we're going to arrange that," Wilders concluded.
Wilders stressed on Thursday that he does not think that Pechtold should be prosecuted, but that the same should apply to him.
"I think I should not be here," Wilders said. "I take up the debate with every colleague in the House of Representatives, but I refuse to go into questions that belong in the House of Representatives."
The content hearings in the appeal case of Wilders were scheduled for 11 days and the verdict was scheduled for July 6 this year. Due to the objection these dates are uncertain now.
