Dutch Court Gives Pakistani Ex-Cricketer 12 Years Jail For Threatening Anti-Islam Leader

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

AMSTERDAM (Worthy News) – A court in the Netherlands has sentenced a former Pakistani cricketer to 12 years in prison for offering a reward to kill Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders.

The case was based on a video posted online in 2018, in which Khalid Latif offered 21,000 euros ($22,600) to anyone who would assassinate Wilders, who leads the Party for Freedom (PVV).

He said he posted the video online in 2018 in response to Wilder’s announcement that he would hold a competition for caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

Images of Muhammad are forbidden in Islam as they are considered a form of idolatry, and caricatures are viewed as highly offensive. Wilders, known for his anti-Islam rhetoric, later backtracked after large-scale protests broke out in Pakistan, and he received several death threats.

However, the court ruled on Monday that “it was not a stretch to think that somebody around the world would have taken heed of the call to kill Mr. Wilders.” Presiding judge G Verbeek said Latif’s comments were not just an attack on “Mr Wilders personally but an attack on free speech.”

Latif did not appear in the high-security courtroom near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport for the trial, and a lawyer did not represent him. He is believed to be in Pakistan, which has no extradition agreement with the Netherlands.

In a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, he urged Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the country’s justice minister to put “strong pressure” on the Pakistani authorities to arrest and deport Latif.

LOSING FREEDOM

Wilders also said he was “very happy” with the verdict. “But of course, he is not here, and it’s only real justice when he will be arrested, apprehended, and extradited to the Netherlands,” he added of Latif.

“I lost my whole personal freedom for almost 19 years now,” Wilders said, stressing that he and his wife have had to live in safe houses and military barracks. “The only freedom I have is my freedom of speech and my freedom of thought.”

An international warrant has been issued for Latif’s arrest.

Dutch prosecutors have said they have been trying to contact him since 2018, first as a witness and then to answer the charges.

However, they stressed that they hadn’t received any reply from the Pakistani authorities.

Latif had not played cricket since 2017 when he was given a five-year ban for his reported role part in a match-fixing scandal in the Pakistan Super League.

The 60-year-old Wilders is no stranger to controversy: In 2020, he was cleared of charges of inciting hatred and discrimination but was convicted for insulting a racial group. Wilders was convicted on similar charges in 2016.

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