Geert Wilders’ appeal against his conviction for inciting discrimination kicks off at the high security court at Schiphol airport on Tuesday with a pre-trial hearing.

As yet it is unclear whether Wilders, who boycotted the original hearing in 2016, will attend the court. The MP and PVV leader is appealing against his conviction for two incidents during a local election campaign in The Hague in 2014.

On March 12, he told the NOS broadcaster that people were voting ‘for a safer, more social city with less trouble and if possible, fewer Moroccans.’ A week later, he asked the audience at a party rally whether they wanted fewer Moroccans, then added: ‘Then we will arrange this.’

A panel of three judges ruled Wilders’s comments were ‘demeaning and insulting to the Moroccan population’. However, the court decided not to fine or sentence Wilders on the basis that a criminal conviction was sufficient punishment in itself.

At Tuesday’s pre-appeal hearing, Wilders’ lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops and the public prosecution department will outline which parts of the original verdict they disagree with and why. They can also ask the court for permission to hear expert testimony.

Two days have been allocated for the hearings and the appeal court will announce its findings on November 9.