Pakistani mullah, political leader face lengthy prison terms for demanding Wilders's murder

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) recommended called on judges to convict 56-year-old Mullah Muhammed Ashraf Jalali for attempting to incite the murder of Geert Wilders, the leader of far-right political party PVV. The OM said the Pakistani man should spend 14 years in prison during his trial on Monday. A second Pakistani man tried separately for similar charges, Saad Hussain Rizvi, should be convicted and jailed for six years, prosecutors argued.

Neither of the two suspects appeared at the heavily secured courthouse near Schiphol Airport. They also did not appoint attorneys to appear on their behalf. Wilders was there, and he told the court about the negative impact caused by threats on his life.

According to the prosecutor, Jalali abused his position as a cleric. In several calls, the Pakistani allegedly said that Wilders should be killed, possibly by beheading or hanging. "The suspect has probably never been to the Netherlands. He wanted to influence the debate here in a completely unacceptable way. The Public Prosecution Service takes this very seriously," said the prosecutor. "Unfortunately, we are increasingly seeing politicians being threatened."

Wilders filed several complaints against Jalali. He was pleased by the "signal" sent by the Public Prosecution Service with this "tough demand."

The second suspect is 29-year-old political leader Saad Hussain Rizvi. He is also said to have called for the killing of Wilders. According to the Public Prosecution Service, he is accused of having said that he and his audience should take on this task.

He did this after Khalid Latif, a former Pakistani cricket player, was sentenced in absentia in the Netherlands to 12 years in prison for attempting to incite the murder of Wilders. In 2018, he had posted a video on Facebook in which he offered a reward of 21,000 euros for the murder of the PVV leader. He posted the video in response to a cartoon competition about the Prophet Mohammed that Wilders had devised. At the time, there were many demonstrations in Pakistan against this stunt.

Another Pakistani man was previously accused of traveling to The Hague in 2018 with the intention of carrying out an attack on the PVV leader. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2021.

The Netherlands does not have an extradition treaty with Pakistan. The Public Prosecution Service has made several requests for legal assistance from the Pakistani authorities, but these have remained unanswered.

The court will likely issue its verdict on September 9.