Pakistanis tried for incitement to kill Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders
High-security court tries in absentia religious leader Muhammed Ashraf Jalali and Saad Hussain Rizvi, head of hardline TLP party
SCHIPHOL, Netherlands — Two Pakistani men stood trial in absentia Monday at a high-security court in the Netherlands over alleged attempts to incite the murder of far-right and anti-Islam Dutch leader Geert Wilders.
Dutch prosecutors have charged 56-year-old religious leader Muhammed Ashraf Jalali for calling on his followers to kill Wilders and promising they would be “rewarded in the afterlife.”
Another man, Saad Hussain Rizvi, leader of the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party, is suspected of urging followers to kill Wilders after Pakistani cricketer Khalid Latif was sentenced for incitement to murder him.
“This case has had a huge impact on me and my family,” said Wilders, dressed in a dark suit, white shirt, and maroon tie.
“I’m asking this court to send a strong signal… that calling a fatwa in this country is unacceptable,” he added.
The trial took place at a highly secure courthouse near Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport.
Neither of the men is believed to be in the country, and Pakistan has no extradition agreement with the Netherlands. Prosecutors said in a statement that requests they sent to Pakistani authorities seeking legal assistance to serve subpoenas on the two men were not executed.
Dutch authorities asked Islamabad for legal assistance to question the suspects and demand they appear in court.
However, no treaty exists with Pakistan for mutual legal assistance. Neither man had legal representation present.
‘Death threats’
In September last year, judges sentenced Latif to 12 years behind bars for incitement to murder Wilders after the firebrand lawmaker sought to arrange a competition for cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
Wilders canceled the cartoon contest after protests broke out in Pakistan and he was inundated with death threats. He has been under 24-hour state protection since 2004.
The planned competition “caused a lot of unrest within the Muslim community. He (Wilders) received hundreds if not thousands of death threats,” said the judge, who asked not to be identified.
In the Netherlands, the plan to stage the contest was widely criticized as needlessly antagonizing Muslims.
But the call to kill Wilders appeared to resonate, as a Pakistani man was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2019 for plotting his assassination in the wake of the canceled contest.
Wilders said in court he had planned the contest because “it’s unacceptable that you are not allowed freedom of speech… in countries where it is permitted by law.”
“For the past 20 years I have been robbed of my freedom because of what I think, say, write, and do,” said Wilders.
“Fatwas are the worst of all. They never go away. I still receive death threats on a daily basis,” added the politician.
Wilders told judges of the impact of the threats on his life, that has been lived under intense security since 2004. Two armed military police sat in court throughout the brief trial.
“Every day you get up and leave for work in armored cars, often with sirens on, and you are always aware somewhere in the back of your mind that this could be your last day,” Wilders told the court.
“I’m 60 now, I haven’t been free since I was 40,” he added.
The public prosecutor called for Jalali to receive 14 years in prison. Six years were requested against Rizvi with a verdict expected on September 9.
“The aim of the suspect (Jalali) was to kill Wilders. He (Jalali) had great influence in Pakistan,” alleged the prosecutor, who asked to remain anonymous.
“Unfortunately we see politicians being more and more threatened because of what they say and think.”
The hardline TLP religious group is known for its massive street protests over blasphemy allegations that can paralyze cities for days.
It brought tens of thousands of people to the streets after Paris-based satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo republished cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in 2020.
