(16 Nov 2016) Dutch prosecutors insisted on Wednesday that the decision to put populist anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders on trial for hate speech was based purely on the law, countering Wilders' claims that the case is politically motivated.
Prosecutor Wouter Bos said the accusations were "punishable based on the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Racial Discrimination", adding that that "racist comments" touched "human dignity to the core".
Prosecutor Sabina van der Kallen said that The Netherlands had an obligation under European Union agreements to combat racism.
The trial centres on comments Wilders made before and after 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, sparking a chant of "Fewer! Fewer! Fewer!"
"We'll take care of it," he replied, in a video recording played in court.
In a statement read in court by his lawyer earlier in the trial, Wilders defended his comments, saying, "It is my right and my duty as a politician to speak about the problems in our country."
Wilders, whose Freedom Party is riding high in opinion polls ahead of parliamentary elections in March, is refusing to attend the trial, labelling it a political witch hunt.
Prosecutors are expected to make their sentence demand on Thursday, before Wilders' defence lawyers make their closing statement.
Wilders faces a maximum sentence of two years' imprisonment if convicted of insulting a group based on race, and inciting hatred and discrimination. However, prosecutors say courts mostly sentence people convicted of such offences to a fine or community service order.
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