12 years in prison for attempting to incite the murder of Geert Wilders

The court rules that the suspect’s statements in the video should be seen as an attempt to provoke murder, incitement and threats. The words used by the suspect are unambiguous: he promises a significant amount of money to perform a specific act, namely killing Wilders. This took place at a time when fierce demonstrations against Wilders took place, especially in Pakistan, during which Dutch flags were burned and other people also called on Wilders to be killed. It was therefore far from inconceivable that someone – anywhere in the world – would feel called to respond to this call.

By his actions, the suspect first and foremost infringed Wilders’ personal privacy. In a period when hatred and threats against Wilders because of the announced cartoon competition already found very fertile ground, the suspect added even more fuel to the fire and even urged people to kill Wilders.

The suspect’s actions also constitute a violation of the Dutch democratic constitutional state. The suspect’s statements not only contribute to hatred and threats against Wilders himself, but also carry the risk that freedom of speech in the Netherlands will be unacceptably limited and that members of parliament will no longer be free to perform their essential task within the Netherlands. to exercise the democratic legal order. The court takes this into account to a large extent when determining the sentence. With this sentence the court also aims to set an example. It must be clear not only to this suspect, but also to others that such offenses can lead to very high sentences.

The court finds a prison sentence of 12 years, exactly as demanded by the public prosecutor, appropriate and appropriate and therefore imposes it on the suspect.