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Dutch prosecutors on Tuesday demanded 12 years in prison for a Pakistani ex-cricketer, who is accused of offering around €21,000 for someone to assassinate the Netherlands’ most prominent far-right politician, Geert Wilders.
Khalid Latif offered the money to anyone who would carry out a hit on Wilders, prosecutors said, after the firebrand Party for Freedom boss devised a cartoon contest in 2018 calling on people to send in caricatures of Prophet Muhammad.
The competition angered Muslims, as any depictions of Muhammad are considered blasphemous. In a social media clip, Latif promised 3 million Pakistani rupees to anyone who would kill “the person who planned this game,” adding, “If I had more, I would give it.” Wilders eventually canceled the competition.
Neither Latif nor a lawyer for him appeared in court to respond to the charges, though Wilders did appear.
Speaking in court, the controversial far-right MP addressed the absent Latif: “As long as I’m living and breathing, you won’t stop me. Your call to kill me and pay money for it is abject and will not silence me.”
The prosecutor said they have tried since 2018 to speak to Latif and requested legal assistance from Islamabad, but received no response.
The court is expected to rule in two weeks, Dutch media reported.
Latif played a handful of international matches for Pakistan before he was banned from cricket after being snared by watchdogs in a corruption scandal in 2017.
