The article below includes a response from Geert Wilders to the prosecution’s request to acquit him of all charges. Many thanks to VH for the translation from RTL:
OM asks acquittal for Geert Wilders
Wilders was on trial for “insulting a group of people” and “inciting to hatred and discrimination because of religion and race”. Earlier this week the OM asked acquittal for the first indictment; for the other two they did so today.
The prosecution believes that the PVV leader with some of his statements has called for discrimination against Muslims, but he is not punishable for this, because he made those remarks in the context of the political debate. The prosecutors said Tuesday that Wilders was not punishable for insulting about a group of people, because in his statements he always talks about Islam and not about Muslims.
For all charges the prosecution had established criteria to which the statements made by Wilders should conform to be punishable. Certain statements comply with some of the criteria, but none do so to all of them, according to prosecutors Birgit van Roessel and Paul Velleman.
For insulting of a group, the prosecutors find that Wilders always clearly talks about Islam and not the believers, the Muslims. In some cases, this is also the case with statements that would incite hatred and discrimination.
Wilders ‘very happy’
Geert Wilders himself is “very happy” with the conclusion of the prosecution. This he said after the session. “I do not insult, I do not incite to hatred, I do not discriminate. The only thing I do and will continue to do is to speak the truth,” he said. The PVV leader pointed out that this was already the second time the OM has said this; the first time was when it decided not to prosecute Wilders. That he had to stand trial anyway was ordered by the court in Amsterdam.