Anti-Islamic Dutch politician's popularity soars after he is convicted for discrimination

Tuesday, 13 December 2016

The West appears to be in the febrile grip of a far right movement and it's in full swing. First the British voted Brexit, America followed suit by electing Donald Trump, Italy joined the party, Germany partially did with Angela Merkel's suggested ban on Burqha and Austria avoided it by only a slim margin. Netherlands is the next stop. Geert Wilders, a 53yr old Anti-islamic MP is the country's conservative poster boy who has vowed to confiscate Qurans, close mosques and Islamic schools and according to polls, his Freedom Party is set to be the country's biggest in parliament after the forthcoming March elections.

He was recently convicted of discrimination against Moroccans but is yet to be sentenced.

The three-week trial of Wilders had focused in particular on a statement made at a 2014 local government election rally in The Hague, when he asked supporters whether they wanted 'fewer or more Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands'. When the crowd shouted back 'Fewer! Fewer!' a smiling Wilders answered: 'We're going to organise that.'

Prosecutors told the trial they had taken Wilders to court because 'racist remarks need to be stopped' after police received 6,400 complaints about his comments.

Wilders boycotted most of the high-profile trial, and refused to appear in court for the verdict. If elected as the lowlands country's new prime minister, Wilders has vowed to confiscate Korans, close mosques and Islamic schools, shut Dutch borders and ban migrants from Islamic countries among a raft of other anti-Islamic moves.

Reacting to his conviction, Wilders said the judges were on the "wrong side of history".

The ruling has only added fuel to the flames as his popularity has surged in the aftermath.