The public prosecution department said on Monday that it had found no evidence of political interference in the decision to prosecute anti-Islam campaigner and MP Geert Wilders for discrimination after leading supporters in an anti-Moroccan chant.

Wilders has called on the public prosecution department to drop the case, alleging that there was political interference in the decision-making process, but the department has consistently denied coming under ministerial pressure.

The finding was made public during Monday’s procedural court hearing, which was not attended by either Wilders or his lawyer. They say all documents relating to the case should be made public before the hearings can resume.

The justice ministry is also carrying out its own hunt for documents about the decision to take legal action against Wilders for the comments he made in 2014. That, according to justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus, is likely to be in February.

Hearings in the case are currently scheduled to resume on February 5.

The ‘fewer Moroccans’ case dates back to 2014 when Wilders asked a roomful of supporters if they wanted to have ‘more or fewer’ Moroccans in the country. When the crowd shouted back: ‘Fewer, fewer,’ Wilders responded: ‘We’ll take care of that.’

In December 2016, Wilders was found guilty of inciting discrimination against Dutch Moroccans. A panel of three judges said 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. Wilders was also found guilty of insulting Dutch people of Moroccan origin as a group, but cleared of inciting hatred against them.