20 Mar 2014

Dutch politician Wilders sued over poll vow

The largest Moroccan grouping in the Netherlands has said it will file a complaint against far-right politician Geert Wilders, after he told supporters he would ensure there were "fewer Moroccans" in the country.

wilders maroccans

Television pictures late on Wednesday showed Wilders in The Hague asking supporters after local government elections whether they wanted "fewer or more Moroccans in your city and in the Netherlands?". "Fewer! Fewer!" the crowd shouted, with a smiling Wilders answering: "We're going to organise that."

"We believe by targeting a specific group, Wilders this time has gone too far," El Kaddouri said, referring to a 2011 court case that saw the politician acquitted on hate-speech charges. The court ruled that Wilders had targeted a religion, which is permitted under Dutch freedom of speech laws, rather than a specific ethnic group.

Al Jazeera English