Dutch anti-Islam political leader Geert Wilders has been convicted of insulting a group and inciting discrimination.
But no penalty was imposed by the court near Amsterdam on Wilders, whose party is leading in polls ahead of parliamentary elections in March.
Wilders was also acquitted of inciting hate over telling supporters in March 2014 he would ensure there were fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands.
He called the verdict “madness” in a tweet posted shortly after.
He said he would appeal the conviction.
The verdict follows a three-week trial triggered when police received 6,400 complaints about his remarks during a municipal election campaign in The Hague.
At a campaign meeting, 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 responded: “We’re going to take care of that.”
At the trial, prosecutors took testimony from Dutch-Moroccans who said his comments made them feel like “third-rate citizens”.
Wilders was previously prosecuted in 2011, over anti-Islam comments such as comparing the religion to Nazism and calling for a ban on the Koran. He was acquitted and the case was widely seen as giving the populist leader a publicity boost.
Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38260377
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