A Dutch courtroom has sentenced a former Pakistan cricketer to 12 years in jail over allegations that he incited other folks to kill firebrand anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders
ByThe Associated Press
September 11, 2023, 6:05 AM
Firebrand anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders listened as presiding pass judgement on Verbeek, rear proper, delivered the courtroom’s verdict towards a former Pakistan cricketer accused of incitement to kill, on the excessive safety courtroom construction close to Schiphol airport, Monday, Sept. 11, 2023. The suspect, known through Wilders as Khalid Latif, is accused of providing a bounty of a few 21,000 euros ($23,000) to anyone who killed Wilders. Prosecutors have not named Latif. However, in a remark they are saying a video posted on-line in 2018 displays a well-known Pakistan cricketer providing a bounty for killing Wilders. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
The Associated Press
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — A Dutch courtroom on Monday sentenced a former Pakistani cricketer to 12 years in jail over allegations that he incited other folks to kill firebrand anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders.
Khalid Latif, 37, stood accused of providing a bounty of a few 21,000 euros ($23,000) to anyone who killed Wilders. Latif didn’t seem within the high-security court close to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport for the trial and he was once no longer represented through a legal professional.
He’s believed to be in Pakistan, which has no extradition settlement with the Netherlands.
Throughout the trial, Latif was once no longer known through identify, however prosecutors stated in a remark that a video posted on-line in 2018 confirmed a well-known Pakistan cricketer providing the cash for killing Wilders. Wilders himself known the suspect as Latif.
“The court has now ruled that a long-term unconditional term of imprisonment is the only suitable punishment for these types of offenses,” a remark stated.
Dutch lawmaker Wilders, who was once provide for the decision, has lived below round the clock coverage for years on account of repeated threats to his lifestyles sparked through his fierce complaint of Islam.
The alleged bounty be offering got here after Wilders stated he would arrange a festival of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Many Muslims imagine any depictions of Muhammad to be blasphemous. Ultimately, the competition didn’t move forward, however the plan sparked outrage within the Muslim international.
An global warrant has been issued for Latif’s arrest. Dutch prosecutors have stated that they’d been attempting to touch him since 2018, first as a witness after which to solution the costs. However, they stated they hadn’t won any answer from the Pakistani government.
In 2017, Latif, 37, was once banned for 5 years from all sorts of cricket for his function in a match-fixing scandal within the Pakistan Super League.
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