Court rejects Wilders' bias accusation against judge

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders says his chances of a fair trial on hate speech charges have evaporated after a court refused to replace a judge he had accused of bias.

Wilders' lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops had argued that one of the three judges in Wilders' ongoing hate speech trial demonstrated bias while questioning a witness on Thursday.

But an independent panel rejected the claim Friday and said the judge, Elianne van Rens, could stay on the case.

Wilders, who is not attending his trial, has responded in a tweet, calling it a "scandalous decision" and saying that his "chance of a fair trial are now gone."

Wilders is on trial on anti-Moroccan comments he made in 2014. He insists he is innocent.