Former Pakistani batter Khalid Latif was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on Monday, September 11, 2023, after being tried in absentia for instigating the public to murder Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders.

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.

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.

"It was not a stretch to think that somebody around the world would have taken heed of the call to kill Mr Wilders. The accused knew this and his call fuelled the fire to have Wilders killed,” presiding judge G. Verbeek told the court.

Prosecutors said Latif posted a video in 2018, offering a reward for the murder of Wilders. This had come after Wilders said he planned to hold a contest for cartoons depicting caricatures of the Muslim Prophet Mohammad.

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.

"It's a good sentence, but it's a pity that the accused is not here in court. It is no longer acceptable that the Pakistani authorities refuse to cooperate. I am going to ask the prime minister to ensure that Khalid Latif is arrested in Pakistan and extradited to the Netherlands,” Wilders told the press outside the court.

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. He currently lives in Karachi and is a coach at club level.

(AFP inputs)