In Schiphol, Netherlands, a Dutch court has handed down convictions for two Pakistani religious and political leaders who were absent during the trial. The charges were related to their urging followers to kill Geert Wilders, a prominent anti-Islam lawmaker who leads the Party for Freedom. Wilders has been living under constant security for the past two decades due to numerous death threats stemming from his criticism of Islam.
The convicted individuals, Muhammad Ashraf Asif Jalali and Saad Rizvi, were found guilty of attempting to incite murder with a terrorist motive and issuing threats against Wilders. Jalali, a religious leader with a significant online following, received a 14-year sentence. Rizvi, who heads the radical group Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan, was sentenced to four years for incitement to murder.
Despite the Netherlands seeking legal cooperation from Pakistan to extradite the defendants, there is no extradition agreement between the countries. This means that the individuals, believed to be in Pakistan, are unlikely to face the prescribed sentences.
This is not the first time Pakistani nationals have faced legal consequences in the Netherlands for threatening Wilders. In a similar incident last year, a former Pakistani cricketer named Khalid Latif received a 12-year sentence for soliciting Wilders’ assassination. Additionally, another Pakistani man was sentenced to 10 years in 2019 for plotting a terrorist attack against Wilders, often likened to the Dutch equivalent of Donald Trump.
The threats against Wilders escalated after he announced a cartoon competition depicting the Prophet Muhammad in 2018, leading to protests in several Muslim-majority countries. Depictions of the Prophet are forbidden in Islam and considered extremely offensive. Wilders described the toll these threats have taken on his life, emphasizing the ongoing need for heightened security measures.
