Ten years' prison for threatening far-right Wilders over Mohammed cartoons

Junaid I. was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the appeals court for threatening an attack on PVV leader Geert Wilders in 2018 after the far-right politician announced a contest for the best cartoon featuring the prophet Muhammad. The sentence is equal to what the Pakistani man got when this case was first tried in 2019.

The court said it took into account that I. was planning to murder a parliamentarian, and that this is considered an attack on the Dutch rule of law, NU.nl reports. Behavioral experts also concluded that I. has a penchant for violent extremism and the chance of recurrence is great.

I. was arrested at Den Haag Central Station in August 2018. A day before his arrest, he posted a video on Facebook in which he announced an attack on Wilders or the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament. The man was furious about Wilders' announced cartoon contest and came from France to put a stop to it, he said.