A former Pakistani international cricketer was tried in the Netherlands on Tuesday for allegedly attempting to incite the murder of anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders. Prosecutors were seeking a 12-year prison sentence if found guilty. Dutch prosecutors said Khalid Latif, 37, who remains in Pakistan, had offered 21,000 euros ($23,000) in a 2018 online video calling for Wilders’ murder.
At the time, the outspoken Dutch member of parliament canceled a competition for cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed after angry demonstrations broke out in Pakistan in particular and the far-right politician was inundated with death threats.
“Latif tried to incite others to kill Mr. Wilders and avenge the cartoon contest,” prosecutor FA Kuipers told the judges.
“It was not only his goal to end a human life by force, but with his appeal he tried to silence a Dutch representative,” she said during a court hearing in a heavily secured courthouse near Schiphol Airport.
“Calling for murder to prevent the cartoon contest and offering a sum of money to kill the organizer of that contest should be punished very severely as far as the Public Prosecution is concerned,” said Kuipers, before demanding twelve years in prison. .
Neither Latif nor any lawyer was present in court. The Pakistani embassy in The Hague had no comment immediately after the hearing and Latif was not immediately available for comment.
Kuipers said prosecutors had tried to talk to the cricketer since 2018 and submitted a request for legal assistance to Islamabad, but to no avail.
The Netherlands has no treaty on legal aid with Pakistan, she said. “The questions we have for Latif remain unanswered,” says Kuipers.
‘Won’t Be Silenced’
Wilders, who was present in court during the hearing, told the judges that death threats against his life increased after his plans to host the controversial cartoon competition. Known for his vehement remarks about Islam, Wilders has been under 24-hour state protection since 2004.
“Whatever you think of the cartoon contest, there’s no reason to put a death penalty on anyone’s head for it,” said Wilders.
Wilders, known for his peroxide-bouffante haircut, personally addressed Latif, saying, “Your call to have me killed will never silence me”.
But at the time, the plan to host the contest was widely criticized domestically, with politicians, local media and ordinary citizens decrying the idea as an unnecessary antagonism from Muslims.
Latif’s call resonated in the real world, Kuipers said. A Dutch court in 2019 sentenced a Pakistani man to 10 years in prison for plotting to kill Wilders in the aftermath of the canceled match.
The man, identified as Junaid I., was arrested at a train station in The Hague in 2018 after he posted a video on Facebook in which he said he wanted to “send Wilders to hell” and urged others to help. The verdict will be pronounced on September 11.
Latif, 37, who played five one-day internationals and thirteen T20Is for Pakistan, was banned from cricket for five years in 2017 for spot-fixing in a Pakistani Super League match in Dubai. Latif, who had shown tremendous promise early on as a cricketer but failed to make an impact at international level, made his last Pakistan appearance against the West Indies in Abu Dhabi in September 2016.
He completed his suspension last year and has since led a low profile life in Karachi, coaching at club level.
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