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Dutch police arrest man over alleged plot to kill Geert Wilders
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Dutch far-right PVV party leader Geert Wilders (C) is escorted away by police after speaking at a gathering of supporters of British far-right spokesman Tommy Robinson in central London on June 9, 2018, following the jailing of Robinson for contempt of court.
Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP (AFP/Daniel Leal-Olivas)
T
he Dutch police on Tuesday arrested a man suspected of planning an attack against far-right politician Geert Wilders after he said he intended to hold a Prophet Mohammad cartoon competition.
Police said in a statement they arrested the still unidentified suspect at the main railway station in The Hague.
He was currently being questioned and was expected to appear before a judge on Friday, the statement said.
Police said they had been alerted by a video on Facebook in which the 26-year-old man talked about attacking anti-Islam MP Wilders, as well as the Dutch parliament.
Wilders, who announced plans for a competition of Mohammad cartoons earlier this year, said he had been told about the plot by the Netherlands' counterterrorism police, NCTb.
"I was told by NCTb this morning that a man on Facebook had said that he had arrived in the Netherlands for the purpose of killing me," Wilders said via his Twitter account.
"Fortunately, he has been arrested. It is madness that this is happening because of a drawing contest and that it is raining death threats."
The head of the Netherlands' Party for Freedom or PVV, Wilders is known for his virulent anti-Islam statements.
Last week, Pakistan expressed objections to what it described as the "blasphemous" cartoon competition and summoned a high-ranking Dutch diplomat in Islamabad to protest.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte also described the competition as "disrespectful" and "provocative", even though he defended the principle of freedom of expression.
Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok also insisted that the competition was not a government initiative.
