Dutch politician found guilty of hate speech

Dutch politician Geert Wilders has been convicted of hate speech at a trial he has branded a politically motivated “charade” that endangered freedom of speech.

Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said that the court would not impose a sentence on Wilders, as the conviction was punishment enough for a democratically elected politician.

In their verdict, the judges said that “the inflammatory character of the way in which the statements were made have incited others to discriminate people of Moroccan origin.”

Wilders was not present in the court for the verdict, just over three months before national elections.

His populist anti-Islam Party for Freedom is currently in a narrow lead in a nationwide poll of polls  and has risen in popularity during the trial.