The court in The Hague has sentenced two Pakistanis who called on their followers to murder PVV leader Geert Wilders to prison sentences of fourteen and four years.
The heaviest sentence, in accordance with the demand of the Public Prosecution Service, is for the 56-year-old spiritual leader Muhammad Ashraf Asif Jalali. The other convicted person is the 29-year-old Saad Hussain Rizvi, leader of the extremist party Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP).
The court finds it plausible that Jalali’s followers took his calls seriously. The religious leader also made his statements in English and addressed an international audience. The court sees these calls as a crime with a terrorist intent.
Rizvi was partly acquitted of a crime with a terrorist intent. Insufficient leads were found to make it clear that this was Rizvi’s goal, the court says. That is why Rizvi is sentenced to four years in prison. The Public Prosecution Service had demanded six years.
No extradition treaty
Neither Jalali nor Rizvi were present in court. The Netherlands does not have an extradition treaty with Pakistan, which means that the country is not obliged to extradite the two to the Netherlands. The chance that they will serve their sentences is therefore small. Wilders himself was present in court….
The heaviest sentence, in accordance with the demand of the Public Prosecution Service, is for the 56-year-old spiritual leader Muhammad Ashraf Asif Jalali. The other convicted person is the 29-year-old Saad Hussain Rizvi, leader of the extremist party Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP).
The court finds it plausible that Jalali’s followers took his calls seriously. The religious leader also made his statements in English and addressed an international audience. The court sees these calls as a crime with a terrorist intent.
Rizvi was partly acquitted of a crime with a terrorist intent. Insufficient leads were found to make it clear that this was Rizvi’s goal, the court says. That is why Rizvi is sentenced to four years in prison. The Public Prosecution Service had demanded six years.
No extradition treaty
Neither Jalali nor Rizvi were present in court. The Netherlands does not have an extradition treaty with Pakistan, which means that the country is not obliged to extradite the two to the Netherlands. The chance that they will serve their sentences is therefore small. Wilders himself was present in court….
