After Wilders announced a competition for drawings of the Prophet Mohammed, sparking significant demonstrations in Pakistan, former Pakistani Cricketer Khalid Latif allegedly offered 21,000 euros ($22,500) for his murder.
A Dutch court sentenced former Pakistani cricketer Khalid Latif to 12 years in prison for encouraging the murder of MP Geert Wilders. After Wilders announced a competition for drawings of the Prophet Mohammed, sparking significant demonstrations in Pakistan, Latif allegedly offered 21,000 euros ($22,500) for his murder.
According to presiding judge G Verbeek, “It was not a stretch to think that somebody around the world would have heeded the call to kill Mr. Wilders.”
For the unversed, former Pakistani cricketer Khalid Latif has also been suspended for five years due to his involvement in spot-fixing. Latif, a right-handed opener, led Pakistan to victories in the U-19 Cricket World Cup in 2004 and the bronze medal at the 2010 Asian Games.
Former Pakistani Cricketer Khalid Latif:
Latif, who was found guilty in absentia, is unlikely to complete his term. Authorities from the Netherlands have unsuccessfully tried to speak with Latif about the matter and have also asked Pakistan for legal support. After protests started in Pakistan and he started receiving several death threats, Wilders called off the cartoon competition. Since 2004 he has been protected by the state around-the-clock.
The notion of holding the competition was heavily ridiculed in the Netherlands, as politicians, local media, and regular people attacked it for needlessly provoking Muslims. A Pakistani man was convicted to 10 years in prison in 2019 for plotting Wilders’ assassination in the wake of the contest’s cancellation, indicating that the call to assassinate Wilders appeared to have real-world resonance.
Latif’s video, according to Judge Verbeek, attacked not only Wilders personally but also the idea of free speech in the Netherlands. Moreover, Latif represented Pakistan in five one-day and thirteen T20 international matches, however, in 2017 he was given a five-year cricket ban for spot-fixing in a Pakistan Super League game in Dubai.
In Abu Dhabi in September 2016, he made his final Pakistani appearance against the West Indies. Verbeek asserted that Latif had used his notoriety as an international cricket player to “add fuel to the fire” at a time when the Netherlands was already under attack from a number of sources.
So, this was all about the former Pakistani Cricketer Khalid Latif. Also read, Jay Shah gets trolled as rains interrupt amid Asia Cup 2023.
