Amsterdam - Dutch far-right politician and leader of (PVV) party, Geert Wilders, will be prosecuted on charges of incitement "to discrimination and hatred," following his racist comments last March against the Moroccan community living in the Netherlands, according to the Public Prosecutor in The Hague.
"Politicians may go far in their statements because of freedom of expression, but this freedom is limited by the prohibition on discrimination," the Prosecutor said in a statement.
Geert Wilders tweeted earlier today that he can't understand the decision to prosecute him. "Incomprehensible decision to prosecute me. The elite want to shut (PVV) down. Tey will not succeed. Never!" he said.
Onbegrijpelijk besluit OM mij te vervolgen. De elite wil de PVV een kopje kleiner maken. Gaat ze niet lukken. Nooit. pic.twitter.com/H4ZOHpj4Sh
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) December 18, 2014
Charges against Wilders stem from anti-Moroccan chant he led during an electoral campaign in The Hague. The anti-Moroccan chant sparked uproar among Dutch politicians and social media users.
Following this incident, the public prosecutor received over 6,400 complaints from Dutch citizens, including Dutch of Moroccan origin. As response to his xenophobic remarks, a Facebook page named “Ik doe aangifte tegen Wilders” (I am reporting Wilders) was created in March and gained 96,124 likes in a short time. Dutch Moroccans and other human right activists responded with a selfie campaign on twitter using the Hashtag #bornhere.