A former Pakistani international cricketer went on trial on Tuesday in the Netherlands for allegedly attempting to incite the murder of anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders, with prosecutors demanding a 12-year sentence if convicted.

Dutch public prosecutors said Khalid Latif, 37, who remains in Pakistan, had offered 21,000 euros ($23,000) in an online video from 2018 in which he called for Wilders’ killing.

Latif, 37, who played five one-day internationals and 13 T20Is for Pakistan, was banned from cricket for five years in 2017 for spot-fixing in a Pakistan Super League match in Dubai.

The Dutch MP was forced to cancel a competition for cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed after angry demonstrations broke out, particularly in Pakistan, and the far-right politician was inundated with death threats.

“Latif tried to move others to murder Mr Wilders and to avenge the cartoon contest. Not only was his goal to end a human life with violence, but with his appeal he tried to silence a Dutch representative,” prosecutor F. A. Kuipers told the judges.

“Calling for a murder to prevent the cartoon competition and offering a sum of money to kill the organizer of that competition, should be very severely punished as far as the Public Prosecution is concerned,” Kuipers added, before asking for a 12-year sentence.

Neither Latif nor any lawyer were present in the courtroom.

Kuipers said prosecutors have tried since 2018 to speak to the cricketer and handed over a request to Islamabad for legal assistance, to no avail. “The questions we have for Latif remain unanswered,” Kuipers said.

The firebrand MP Wilders, who has been under protection since 2004, also addressed Latif directly and said: “Your call to have me murdered will never silence me”.

Latif lives in Karachi and is coaching at club level in Pakistan.

(AFP inputs)