No date has yet been set for the trial of MP and PVV leader Geert Wilders for inciting hatred and discrimination, Dutch media reported on Thursday.
At a preliminary hearing on Thursday, public prosecution department officials urged Wilders’ lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops to work more quickly because of the delays. Officials had hoped to start formal hearings before the summer but that is now very unlikely, the department said.
Wilders is being prosecuted leading supporters in an anti-Moroccan chant at a post-election meeting last spring and for other anti-Moroccan statements.
The public prosecution department decided to take action against him after receiving 6,400 formal complaints about the chants.
Knoops denied he is dragging his feet. ‘Geert Wilders has to defend himself against over 6,000 complaints and that takes time,’ he told news agency ANP.