Pakistani ex-cricketer sentenced to 12 years for threatening Dutch far-right leader

The court ruled that the statement by 37-year-old Khalid Latif - who lives in Pakistan and has not attended any stage of the trial or been detained in the Netherlands - should be regarded as incitement to murder, sedition and threat. Prosecutors said Latif posted a video in 2018, offering a reward for the murder of Wilders. That video came after Wilders said he planned to hold a contest for cartoons depicting caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Mohammad.

A Dutch court sentenced a former Pakistani cricketer to 12 years in prison on Monday after he was tried in absentia for urging people to murder Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders. The court ruled that the statement by 37-year-old Khalid Latif - who lives in Pakistan and has not attended any stage of the trial or been detained in the Netherlands - should be regarded as incitement to murder, sedition and threat.

Prosecutors said Latif posted a video in 2018, offering a reward for the murder of Wilders. That video came after Wilders said he planned to hold a contest for cartoons depicting caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Mohammad. The competition was later cancelled. Images of the Prophet Mohammad are forbidden in Islam as a form of idolatry. Caricatures are regarded by most Muslims as highly offensive.

Reuters was not immediately able to reach Latif - who received a five-year ban from cricket in 2017 over a spot-fixing scandal - for comment. Latif, 37, captained the Pakistan team in the 2010 Asian Games.

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