Geert Wilders Prosecuted For 'Inciting Hatred'

Dutch far-right politician Geert Wilders has hit out at the decision to prosecute him on charges of inciting racial hatred, calling it a "travesty".

It comes after the anti-Islam MP pledged to ensure there were "fewer Moroccans" in the Netherlands.

Speaking at a rally in March following local elections, he asked his supporters if they wanted "fewer or more Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands?"

When the crowd shouted "Fewer! Fewer!" a smiling Mr Wilders answered: "We're going to organise that."

The remark led to 6,400 legal complaints being lodged across the Netherlands, and there was even criticism from within Wilders' own Party for Freedom, which currently leads opinion polls.

Prosecutors said Mr Wilders faces a trial "on charges of insulting a group of people based on race and incitement to discrimination and hatred".

They added: "Politicians may go far in their statements, that's part of freedom of expression, but this freedom is limited by the prohibition of discrimination."

Mr Wilders attacked the prosecutors' decision.

He said: "I have said what millions of people think and find.

"For the second time, one apparently wants to deal with someone who speaks the truth. It is a travesty that I have to defend myself in court for this.

"The Public Prosecutor would do better to devote his time to prosecuting jihadis instead of me. The Party for Freedom is the largest party in the polls. Apparently the elite does not like that."

The date of the trial has not been announced.

In the past, the flamboyant politician has compared the Koran to Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and has called Islam a fascist religion.

A court in 2011 acquitted Wilders on hate-speech charges, ruling he had targeted a religion, which is permitted under Dutch freedom of speech laws, rather than a specific ethnic group.