Pakistani man jailed for 10 years over Dutch anti-Islam MP murder plot – World

A Dutch court sentenced a Pakistani man to 10 years behind bars on Monday for planning to assassinate anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders after the MP announced a cartoon competition that represented Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

The man, identified as Junaid I. by local media, was arrested in August 2018 at a train station in The Hague after he posted a movie on Facebook in which he said he wanted to "send Wilders to hell" and urged to others to help.

The judges of the Hague district court found the 27-year-old man, who had traveled from France, guilty of "planning a murder with a terrorist motive" and "incitement to commit a terrorist act."

"The suspect more than once said that Wilders' death would be a good action," said Judge Jan van Steen, who added four years in prison to the six years sought by the prosecution.

"In addition, the suspect wanted to commit the murder in one of the parliamentary buildings, the heart of Dutch democracy," said Van Steen. The suspect had denied any reason related to the terror.

He said during the trial that he was a "peace lover" and that he had only traveled to the Netherlands from France to protest against Wilders' cartoon competition.

The Facebook video was watched by more than 153,000 people and shared 14,000 times.

The far-right leader Wilders canceled his plans two days later to organize the cartoon competition, a measure that angered many Muslims, particularly in Pakistan, where widespread protests were held.

Wilders, 56, known for his peroxide hairstyle and his anti-immigrant and anti-Islamist statements, lives in a safe house and the Dutch state has granted him 24-hour protection.

The court did not say how Junaid I. planned to kill Wilders, but found that in a phone call with errors after his arrest he said he took "specific things with him." […] without which your mission would not be complete. ” He had also walked with a "big backpack, which he didn't have when he was arrested" and lied about what it contained, the judges said.