'SUPREME COURT PAVED THE WAY FOR CONVICTION OF WILDERS' (Netherlands)

 The president of the Supreme Court last November restricted freedom of speech, as a result of which it could have been easier for other judges to get Party for Freedom MP Geert Wilders convicted. So, at least, suggests TV programme Uitgesproken WNL. The Supreme Court ruled on 23 November that a T-shirt with the slogan Combat18 constituted incitement to hatred and was therefore forbidden. According to WNL, the president of the Supreme Court, Geert Corstens, was personally co-responsible for this verdict. The Combat 18 verdict offers a handle for being able to convict Wilders of incitement to hatred, according to lawyer Gerard Spong. Spong, who is not a party to the Wilders court case, said that Corstens gives the impression with the verdict that he wants to achieve an accounting with the PVV leader "via the back door."

The accounting that Corstens is said to want to effect arose after Wilders sharply criticised the functioning of the judiciary last October, promoted by his own court case. About a week later, Corstens criticised the statements of the PVV leader on TV programme Buitenhof. According to the lawyer, Wilders undermined confidence in independent jurisprudence with his remarks. Wilders' lawyer Bram Moszkowicz also has doubts on the course of events. He said that his clients is "not amused." Moszkowicz considers it disquieting that members of the Supreme Court make statements about Wilders while his case might still come up there at a later stage. Moszkowicz also referred in this connection to last year's leaked memorandum by Diederik Aben, Solicitor-General to the Supreme Court. In this, Aben termed it wrong that lower courts honoured the request by Wilders to have the judges hearing his case replaced due to the appearance of bias. Wilders is currently on trial for incitement to hatred and defamation of Muslims. The case concerns statements that he made outside parliment, as within parliament, he enjoys immunity.

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