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Summary
Right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders appeared in an Amsterdam court on Wednesday charged with inciting hatred and discrimination against Muslims in a case seen as a test of free speech in the traditionally tolerant Netherlands. Wilders, leader of the Freedom Party PVV, is standing trial after a court ordered in January he face charges in a decision that overruled the public prosecutor, who had argued Wilders was protected by the right to free speech. The MP is charged over his 2008 film Fitna which accused the Quran of inciting violence as it mixed images of terrorist attacks with quotations from the holy book.Opening the proceedings, the judge addressed Wilders and said he was appearing in court as a suspect but despite the fact another court had ordered he stands trial, this did not mean he had been pre-judged. The court has decided that you have to be tried and there has been a lot written about this and a lot said about this, not least it has been said that you have already been pre-judged by the court. I'd like to say that this is not how the legal system works. Only once the last word has been said in this courtroom, will we come to a decision, said the judge. He faces a maximum of one year and three months imprisonment if convicted on both counts.
