July 21, 2003
AMSTERDAM - A Dutch appeals court was Friday to rule on whether the killer
of anti-immigrant politician Pim Fortuyn should receive a life
sentence as demanded by the prosecution or have his
18-year-sentence cut as requested by the defence.
In front of the high security court house, nicknamed "the
bunker" in a suburb of Amsterdam several dozen Fortuyn supporters
gathered early Friday.
"Life in prison or hang the man," they chanted as they waited to
get into the building.
Many were carrying photos of the flamboyant anti-immigrant and
openly gay Fortuyn, whose death in May of last year, just ahead of
Dutch general elections, rocked the normally placid Netherlands.
Volkert van der Graaf, an animal rights activist, said his
conscience had guided him to kill Fortuyn because the politician
constituted a threat to the weaker groups in society like
immigrants, Muslims and animals.
In April he was jailed for 18 years for the assassination, a
verdict appealed by both the prosecution and the defence.
During the appeals case prosecutor Inge van Asperen de Boer
again called for a life sentence for Van der Graaf, who recently
turned 34, saying the murder was "an attack on the freedom of
speech".
Fortuyn was shot dead outside a radio station in the central
Netherlands just ahead of the vote in which his populist party was
projected to make sweeping gains.
Under Dutch law Van der Graaf could be out in 11 years with the
current sentence but life imprisonment would mean he would spend
the rest of his natural life in jail. The defence has asked for a
sentence of no more than 16 years.
Fortuyn supporters were outraged in April when Van der Graaf did
not get life in prison.
Both the prosecutor and the presiding judge received death
threats after the verdict.
Under Dutch law Van der Graaf could be out in 11 years with an
18-year sentence but life imprisonment would mean he would the rest
of his natural life in jail. The Dutch system provides either for
sentences up to 20 years or life.
The murder of the outspoken Fortuyn profoundly changed the
political landscape here.
Even though his party is back in opposition after a short-lived
stint in the coalition government, Fortuyn's influence is still
felt in Dutch politics.
Issues that were taboo before his quick ascendancy, such as the
potential negative effects of immigration and problems with Dutch
policies of tolerating soft drug use, are main issues the current
centre-right government is addressing. - Sapa-AFP
