Dutch prosecutors have sought a 14-year prison sentence for a Pakistani Islamophobic cleric who they say called for the death of Dutch populist leader Geert Wilders.
Dutch prosecutors on Monday sought a 14-year prison sentence for Pakistani national Mohammed Ashraf Jalali and six years for Pakistani national Saad Hussain Rizvi, 29, of NOS broadcaster. ReportsWilders called the case historic, saying it was the first time an imam had been put on trial for issuing fatwa death threats.
The trial, which is being held in absentia despite both men being believed to be living in their native Pakistan, centres on alleged calls for the death of Geert Wilders, leader of the Netherlands' largest political party and mainstay of the newly formed coalition government, the Party for Freedom (PVV).
Wilders has received death threats as a result of his fierce criticism of Islam and the Islamisation of Europe and has lived in hiding under 24-hour guard since 2004.
Prosecutors allege that Jalali called on his supporters to behead or hang the populist politician. Rizvi, who is now the leader of the radical Islamist Pakistan Tehreek-e-Labaik (TLP), will be convicted of threatening the PVV leader.
Ahead of his trial, Wilders wrote an exclusive for Breitbart London in which he said: “I have always been a strong advocate of freedom of speech, which is the foundation of a free society and a functioning democracy. I will never be silenced. No fatwa, no death threats, no being on the Taliban and ISIS death lists – nothing will stop me from speaking the inconvenient truth.”
Dutch prosecutors today sought a 14-year prison sentence for the Pakistani imam. translation: They killed me and forced a fatwa on my head sentencing the TLP leader to six years in prison. TranslatorThey deserve it! #FreedomofSpeech #muhammad cartoon #TLP #TLP_Promotion pic.twitter.com/Fb6y9ZnKQ5
— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) September 2, 2024
The Netherlands does not have an extradition treaty with Pakistan so the Imam and leaders of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan are unlikely to be jailed unless they travel abroad, but Wilders argued the trial was a major milestone in confronting radical Islam.
The populist leader, whose party won historic victories in last year's elections and has positioned itself as a driving force behind the new Dutch government, called on other Western countries to follow the Dutch example of taking a tough stance against Islamist extremists in Pakistan and elsewhere.
“Pakistan's tolerant attitude towards terrorist Islamic clerics, groups and parties not only endangers moderate Muslim and non-Muslim minorities in the country, but also encourages extremist Pakistanis to impose their violent ideology on Western countries. It is brave of the Dutch judiciary and government to stand up to them. More countries should follow the example of the Netherlands in this regard,” Wilders wrote in Breitbart.
The trial of the two Islamic extremists is due to finish next week.
The trial marks the first time an imam has been criminally charged for issuing a fatwa, but it is not the first time that Pakistani extremists have been put on trial for threatening the life of a Dutch populist leader.
In 2021, Junaid Iqbal from Pakistan Sentenced A court in The Hague sentenced Wilders to 10 years in prison for plotting a terror attack.
Last year, another Pakistani national, Khalid Latif, a former captain of the Pakistan national cricket team, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for putting bounties on the heads of PVV leaders, but like Jalali and Rizvi, Latif's case was dismissed because he was a resident of Pakistan.
Breitbart's Geert Wilders: Netherlands takes Pakistani imam to court for issuing fatwa, deserves Western support https://t.co/qzlqK9AYzh
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) September 2, 2024
