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Dutch court: Populist lawmaker Wilders guilty of hate speech
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Populist anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders (right) prepares to address judges at the high-security court near Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016, during his hate-speech trial that pits freedom of expression against the Netherlands' anti-discrimination laws. (AP/Peter Dejong)
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Dutch court has convicted populist anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders of hate speech charges at the end of a trial he branded a politically motivated "charade" that endangered freedom of speech.
Presiding Judge Hendrik Steenhuis said Friday the court would not impose a sentence on Wilders, saying that the conviction was punishment enough for a democratically elected lawmaker.
Wilders was not in court for the verdict that came just over three months before national elections. Wilders' Party for Freedom is currently narrowly leading a nationwide poll of polls and has risen in popularity during the trial.
Even before the hearing, Wilders vowed not to let a conviction muzzle him.
"Whatever the verdict, I will continue to speak the truth about the Moroccan problem, and no judge, politician or terrorist will stop me," he tweeted shortly before the verdict.
