Prosecutors reject Wilders complaint of Timmermans β€œincitement”

By Evelien Van Leeuwen May 7, 2024

Frans Timmermans will not be prosecuted for inciting violence against Geert Wilders after the prosecution service decided his conference speech did not constitute a veiled threat.

The PVV leader filed a formal complaint with police after Timmermans vowed to β€œstop at nothing” to prevent Wilders gaining power in the Netherlands.

Wilders responded with a Tweet asking: β€œStop at nothing? Including violence?” and urged his followers to report the GroenLinks-PvdA leader’s statement to police.

But on Monday the prosecution service (OM) said in a statement it would not be charging Timmermans with incitement because the context of his speech made clear he was advocating democratic means.

β€œImmediately after this statement the party chairman called on the negotiating parties not to form a cabinet with Wilders,” the OM said. β€œAnd that GroenLinks-PvdA would take a very hard line in opposition if that was still the outcome.”

Timmermans dismissed Wilders’s police complaint as β€œnonsense” and said he had received more threats online than usual in the wake of Wilders’s appeal to his supporters to follow suit.

β€œMy means have always been parliamentary and nothing else,” Timmermans said. β€œI reject any other suggestion wholeheartedly.”

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