A Pakistani Muslim religious leader was arrested and accused of calling for the murder of Dutch anti-Islam lawmaker Geert Wilders, the leader of the far-right Dutch political party that won the 2023 general elections in the Netherlands, where his party, the Party for Freedom (PVV), won 37 seats in the House of Representatives.
A Pakistani religious leader is tried in his absence for allegedly threatening Geert Wilders https://t.co/G9lM7AlwhX
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 2, 2024
56-year-old Muhammad Ashraf Asif Jalali did not appear at a trial at a closely guarded courtroom near Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport as Dutch prosecutors accused him of abusing his position as a Pakistani religious leader to call on his followers to hang or behead Wilders. Jalali previously told his followers they would be “rewarded in the afterlife” if they killed the anti-Islam politician.
In a second case, Dutch prosecutors also sought a six-year prison sentence against Saad Hussain Rizvi, leader of the Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP), an Islamist political party in Pakistan that gained prominence for defending Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws, for reportedly inciting or threatening a terrorist crime against Wilders.
Both men were tried in absentia with no legal representation, and neither is believed to be in the Netherlands. The Netherlands has no extradition treaty with Pakistan, and Dutch prosecutors said in a statement that requests sent to Pakistan authorities seeking legal assistance to serve subpoenas on the two men were not put into effect.
“This case has had a huge impact on me and my family,” Wilders said. “I’m asking this court to send a strong signal … that calling a fatwa in this country is unacceptable.”
Next week Monday September 2, a historic trial will be held in the Amsterdam/Schiphol high security court.
Pakistani mullah and leader of TLI party @DrJalaliTLY and @Saad_RizviTLP leader of the Pakistani TLP-party, are both prosecuted in The Netherlands and will have to stand… pic.twitter.com/mkjYCdT12L— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) August 26, 2024
While Wilders used the term fatwa to mean a death sentence, it does not mean capital punishment but usually implies a decree made by an Islamic religious authority or court issued by a mufti or a Quran law expert.
However, some fatwas may also call for the death of someone perceived to have committed blasphemy against Islam, such as in the case of former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini calling for the death of Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses in 1989.
While Jalali and Rizvi are not likely to serve a sentence if convicted, Wilders also hopes that the case will send a message that issuing death threats will never be acceptable.
We pray for your safety
— A Chatterjee (@amlan_c) September 2, 2024
They are the latest trials in the Netherlands for Muslims who have threatened Wilder’s life, forcing the controversial, far-right politician to live under round-the-clock police protection for nearly 20 years because of his outspoken criticism of Islam.
Khalid Latif, a former international Pakistani cricketer, was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2023 after he was accused of offering a reward for the death of Wilders. Latif also did not appear for trial and is unlikely to serve any term. A Pakistani man was arrested in the Netherlands in 2019 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison for preparing a terrorist attack on Wilders.
In Pakistan, the TLP strongly denounced the trial and argued that instead of convicting Jalali and Rizvi, the Dutch court should have sentenced Wilders.
“Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan puts this question to the Dutch court: Whether it was not Geert Wilders who should have been punished for insulting Islam’s Prophet Muhammad,” the party said in a statement. “It is not freedom of expression. This is called Islamophobia, which is being done with a plan.”
Geert Wilders receives just another execution threat from a Pakistani Muslim.
He’s been on the hit list of Tehreek-e-Labbaik for some time now, it’s the same militant Islamist outfit that led violent protests against France making the French nationals in Pakistan flee overnight. pic.twitter.com/eSyHMLbz0l— Sonam Mahajan (@AsYouNotWish) June 7, 2022
Wilders has been on the wrong side of the law in the past. In 2020, an appeals court upheld his conviction for insulting Moroccans in an election speech in 2014. He was not punished, with a judge saying that Wilders had already “paid a high price for expressing his opinion,” a reference to the tight security Wilders lives under.
