Dutch Election 2017: Anti-Islam Frontrunner Geert Wilders Suspends Campaign After Security Leak To Dutch-Moroccan Gang

Controversial anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders, whose party had long led the polls ahead of next month’s Dutch general election, has suspended his campaign after a security agent allegedly leaked information on his whereabouts to a Dutch-Moroccan criminal gang.

Wilders, who had been receiving 24-hour state protection, announced the move after reports emerged that an employee of the government’s Safety and Security Department (DBB) charged with his protection was arrested for leaking information. The service said that the officer was of Moroccan origin but was not one of Wilders’ bodyguards and instead screened locations for his public appearances.

The officer, along with his brother, had been investigated for leaks while with the Utrecht police force, according to Dutch outlet Algemeen Dagblad.

Wilders, the leader of the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV), wrote on Twitter that he was suspending his campaign awaiting further information.

“Very disturbing news,” he tweeted in Dutch. “The PVV is suspending its public activities until all facts in connection with the corruption investigation are known.”

Speaking to reporters, Wilders later made clear that he was not prepared to take any risks over his, or his supporters’, safety.

“Especially at meetings where hundreds of innocent people come, I really want to be safe than sorry," he said. "It's not mistrust toward the government."

Wilders has called for a ban on the Quran, the shuttering on all mosques and for the Netherlands to leave the European Union. He was convicted last December of inciting discrimination when he asked supporters if they wanted fewer Moroccans in the country. He officially launched his campaign last week by calling Moroccan immigrants “scum.”

“The Moroccan scum in Holland … once again not all are scum … but there is a lot of Moroccan scum in Holland who make the streets unsafe, mostly young people ... and that should change,” he told reporters in Rotterdam.

On Tuesday, he continued his rhetoric against Islam.

"Dutch values are based on Christianity, on Judaism, on humanism. Islam and freedom are not compatible," he told USA Today.

Wilders’ PVV has been leading in the opinion polls for much of the past 18 months, although the latest poll released Thursday showed the liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy, garnering a two-point lead. Even if Wilders’ party does win the most seats in the election on March 15, he would face an uphill battle to become prime minister. He would need to rely on a coalition and all but one of the 31 parties competing for votes has ruled out working with him.