Excerpt:
In an ugly, squat building Geert Wilders' trial on hate speech began on Monday.
A gallery packed with press at Schiphol airport's secure court heard the 'facts' behind accusations that the far-right wing leader of the PVV incited hatred and racial discrimination towards Moroccans.
But the three judges will have to guess at his motivation from witness statements because – as the politician told the AD newspaper last Friday – he is boycotting his own trial.
Wilders is being tried for two incidents during a local election campaign in The Hague in 2014. On March 12, he told the NOS broadcaster that people were voting 'for a safer, more social city with less trouble and if possible, fewer Moroccans.' A week later, he asked the audience at a party rally whether they wanted fewer Moroccans, then added: 'Then we will arrange this.'