The group kicked the Dutch teenager in the head several times while they kept on filming. After their footage went viral, the Dutch police intervened and arrested three members of the group, aged 14, 15 and 16 years old.
Dutch Member of Parliament Wilders (PVV) called the perpetrators “a sick lot” and added that they should be kicked out of the county.
Smerig tuig.
Schop ze ons land uit. https://t.co/ArA2Yf7liA— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) January 21, 2019
Wilders has meanwhile been the target of a high-profile threat case. Pictures of the suspect have been shown on TV twice.
The anti-immigration politician as well as his security guards have been at risk for weeks due to an error at the Public Prosecution Service: The Ministry of Justice failed to inform the National Coordinator for Counterterrorism (NCTV) that the 26-year-old Pakistani Junaid I had a dangerous travel companion, according to De Telegraaf.
In August 26-year-old Pakistani Junaid I was arrested on suspicion of planning an attack on Wilders. Shortly before, the suspect had recorded a short film at the central station of The Hague in which he threatened to launch the attack at the Dutch parliament. The day after he had put the video on Facebook, he was arrested.
In December, however, Dutch police reported that they were looking for another suspect. On footage released, a person accompanies Junaid I through the gates at the station. According to the police, the two traveled together.
The popular politician was told that the traveling companion had nothing to do with the murder plans, but one day later, the Public Prosecution Service reported that the traveling companion had also been officially regarded as a suspect.
“I am shocked about the state of affairs,” Wilders told De Telegraaf. “This is about my safety and that of the people who protect me every day. This can never happen again.”
After a first broadcast of Opsporing Verzocht, six tips were received by law enforcement, which led to the identification of an important witness, but nothing about the second suspect. After a repeat broadcast of the visual images in January, only one tip came in. “The investigation into the co-defendant will be continued,” a police spokesperson said however.
Junaid I traveled through Europe in August, and he came to the Netherlands from France “to demonstrate against Geert Wilders” he told the police. In Pakistan there was a lot of commotion at the time because Wilders wanted to organise a cartoon contest about the Prophet Mohammed in the House of Representatives.
“At this moment my only target is the offender of Muhammad, with God’s will I will send that dog, that offender, to hell. And as long as I live, I will not cancel this mission,” the Pakistani said in the video of around twelve minutes.
He also had “gruesome, edited images of Wilders on his phone”, the justice department said during a first court hearing at the end of last year.