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[ed. <u+2013> don<u+2019>t know if dutch law can/will compel his attendance. most nations<u+2019> laws provide for being tried in absentia, but in western nations, it<u+2019>s not usually because the defendant refuses to be there.] 




defiant dutch anti-islam politician geert wilders said friday he will refuse to attend his hate speech trial next week, dubbing it a travesty aimed at silencing him as the country prepares for 2017 elections. 




the trial opens on monday before a three-judge bench with the far-right politician facing charges of insulting a racial group and inciting racial hatred for comments he made about moroccans living in the netherlands. 




<u+201c>it is my right and my duty as a politician to speak about the problems in our country,<u+201d> wilders said in a statement friday, dubbing the case <u+201c>a political trial, in which i refuse to cooperate<u+201d>. 




it comes as opinion polls have shown his far-right freedom party (pvv) doing well ahead of march elections. <u+2026> 




set to last until november 25, the trial focuses on a comment made at a march 2014 rally when wilders asked supporters if they wanted <u+201c>fewer or more moroccans in your city and in the netherlands?<u+201d> 




when the crowd shouted back <u+201c>fewer! fewer!<u+201d> wilders answered: <u+201c>we<u+2019>re going to organise that.<u+201d>
geert wilders to boycott his <u+2018>hate speech<u+2019> trial next week
j.e. dyer