Pakistani cricketer Khalid Latif gets 12 years in prison over Geert Wilders bounty

The court in The Hague sentenced the former Pakistani cricket player Khalid Latif to 12 years in prison for incitement to murder PVV leader Geert Wilders. The 37-year-old Pakistani man posted a video online in 2018 offering around 21,000 euros for whoever would kill the Dutch parliamentarian.

It is the first time a Dutch court has convicted someone abroad for threatening a Dutch politician. The verdict matches the sentence the Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended. Latif did not attend his trial or appoint a lawyer to represent him. The Netherlands doesn’t have an extradition treaty with Pakistan.

Wilders was present in the courtroom to hear the ruling. “Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Justice Minister Dilan Yesilgoz must put strong pressure on the Pakistani authorities to cooperate in the arrest and extradition of this now convicted criminal. Otherwise, he will still avoid punishment,” Wilders said on X, formerly Twitter.

Latif posted the bounty for Wilders’ murder in response to the Dutch far-right politician organizing a contest for the best cartoon of the prophet Mohammed. The Islamic faith prohibits the depiction of the prophet. The contest led to significant unrest and protests in Islamic countries. In some, protesters burned Dutch flags and photos of Wilders. The PVV leader eventually called off the competition due to the vast amount of threats it elicited.

According to the court, Latif “first and foremost infringed on Wilders’ personal life” with his actions. “In a period when hatred and threats against Wilders because of the announced cartoon contest already found very fertile ground, the suspect added even more fuel to the fire and even urged people to kill Wilders,” the court said in its verdict.

Latif’s actions also “constitute a violation of the Dutch democratic constitutional state,” the court said. The statements in the video contributed to hatred and threats against a Dutch parliamentarian and made it more difficult for a duly elected representative of the people to perform his essential task within the Netherlands, the court said.

“With this sentence, the court also aims to set an example. It must be clear not only to this suspect but also to others that such offenses can lead to very high sentences,” the court said.