The trial of MP Geert Wilders on charges of inciting hatred and discrimination took a new twist today when a senior court official wrote a weblog entry saying the legal proceedings should not have been suspended.
A special panel at Amsterdam district court halted the trial on October 22 and ordered it start again with new judges because the chief judge had acted in a way which could be prejudicial.
But writing in his own name on the legal blog njblog.nl, high court advocate general Diederik Aben said the case against Wilders should not have been suspended pending the appointment of new judges.
Supposedly, he wrote the item at the request of Amsterdam judge Jan Moors, who was at the centre of the controversy.
Wilders’ lawyer Bram Moszkovicz said it was ‘incomprehensible’ that a high court advocate general had made such a statement and said the trial had become a ‘farce’
Gerard Spong, a lawyer representing some of the people taking legal action against Wilders, said Aben was exercising his right to freedom of speech.
Nevertheless, the trial had become ‘a bit of a farce’, Spong said.
The trial should be removed from the Amsterdam court and continued elsewhere with new officials, he said.
The public prosecution department, which itself had been forced to take the case by the appeal court, asked for all charges against Wilders to be dismissed.
It is not clear when the trial will now take place.