| This is what a Hillary presidency will bring against ordinary people in the U.S. And if you say it couldn't possibly happen here, remember, that's what they said about forcing people to bake cakes for a gay wedding... |
"The court rejects all the defence's objections," judge Hendrik Steenhuis told The Hague district court.
Wilders' lawyers last month urged judges at a preliminary hearing to drop the charges against the far-right leader, slamming it as a "political case" ahead of elections due in March.
But in his ruling, Steenhuis said prosecuting Wilders will "not affect his political freedoms or that of his Freedom Party."
| How one can ban his speech and not affect his political freedom, I confess, flummoxes me, but then I'm not a Y'urp-peon judge... |
When the crowd shouted back "Fewer! Fewer!" a smiling Wilders answered: "We're going to organise that."
His lawyers argued Wilders had merely "put forward his party's political programme", and insisted he had a fundamental right to freedom of speech. Continuing with the case to trial could have "far reaching political consequences for democracy in the Netherlands," his lawyer had argued.
Judge Steenhuis on Friday said: "Just because... Wilders or his party have not been prosecuted over the last nine years because of their viewpoints about Moroccans... doesn't mean that he won't be prosecuted for any statements about Moroccans now."
| Translation: they'll keep prosecuting him until they silence him. |
He tweeted the same comment on Friday, adding the hashtag "#pleurop," a vulgar Dutch way of telling someone to "go away."
It was a deliberate echo of Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who in a recent TV interview made headlines by using the phrase to suggest Dutch citizens of Turkish and Dutch descent who failed to assimilate should return to their countries of origin.
The prosecution of the platinum-haired politician comes as his Freedom Party has been riding high in the polls ahead of the March vote. But the PVV recently lost its lead to Rutte's liberal VVD party.
Wilders's remarks triggered 6,400 complaints, and criticism from within his own party.
| The proper way to handle this: if you're not a PVV party member, vote against them, and if you are, vote for someone else to be leader. It's called "democracy", and once upon a time Europe knew how to do that. |
| The whole point of registering as a "victim" of someone else's speech is odious, anti-democratic, and suicidal to a free society. |
Wilders is described as the "most heavily-guarded man" in the Netherlands. And since the 2004 assassination of anti-Islam film director Theo van Gogh, he has had around-the-clock protection.
But he has drawn heavy flack recently from fellow MPs after saying he would close all mosques and confiscate Korans -- which he famously compares to Hitler's "Mein Kampf" -- should he win the elections.
If found guilty, Wilders could face up to two years in jail or a fine of more than 20,000 euros ($22,000).
In an earlier 2011 hate trial Wilders was acquitted when judges ruled his remarks targeted a religion and not a specific group of people.