Posted on 04/01/2003 12:33:25 PM PST by knighthawk
Life in prison: the public prosecutor has demanded the maximum sentence under Dutch law for Volkert van der Graaf, the confessed murderer of politician Pim Fortuyn. In his closing argument on Tuesday, the lawyer for the prosecution described the defendant, a 33-year-old animal rights activist, as "a cold and calculating killer", whose "unique crime warrants an unique sentence."
"This murder is unprecedented and should never happen again," public prosecutor Koos Plooy said in his closing statement before the Amsterdam court trying the man who confessed to killing Pim Fortuyn shortly before last May's general elections. Mr Plooy demanded that the defendant be sentenced to life imprisonment "so that nobody else should get it into his head to follow his example and frustrate the democratic process in our country though criminal and undemocratic means."
Focusing on the social fallout of the murder, the prosecutor stressed the ensuing disruption of political life, where politicians found themselves surrounded by security staff for their protection and citizens became afraid to speak their minds.
"No political motive"
Mr Plooy said he didn't believe there had been any political motive. On the first day of his trial on Thursday, Van der Graaf had told the court he saw Pim Fortuyn as a "considerable danger to the weaker groups in society" (namely Muslims, asylum seekers, immigrants and animals). And that the only way to stop him was to kill him.
But according to the prosecutor, Van der Graaf was an environmental activist who was totally absorbed by his legal battles with factory farmers and had never shown any wider political interest. He said interviews with people who knew Van der Graaf suggested he hardly talked about politics at all - an assertion the defendant rejected in court.
"No genuine remorse"
Mr Plooy argued that Van der Graaf hadn't showed any genuine remorse during his trial. The defendant stated he was still undecided whether the murder had been justified. "I still have to come to terms with the sorrow I caused. I never really thought about the consequences." Van der Graaf said would never have done it again if the situation repeated itself.
Psychiatrists found the suspect could be held accountable for his actions, according to a report unveiled at the trial. It concluded that Van der Graaf has mental problems but that these didn't influence the acts he is charged with. His "obsessive compulsive personality disorder" produced an "oppressive" type of perfectionism, according to the report, which depicted the defendant as a "rigid and stubborn activist" with a "bloated conscience" and a limitless drive to stand up for the weak. The psychiatric experts said that, on the basis of Van der Graaf's personality disorder, they couldn't make an assessment of the chances of him repeating the crime.
Life sentence "unthinkable"
In their closing arguments, the defence lawyers said it would be "unthinkable" that Van der Graaf be given life imprisonment. While admitting that the political murder had been unprecedented, Mr Stijn Franken and his colleague Britta Boehler found that these special circumstances shouldn't be allowed to determine the sentence. They noted that a life sentence had never been passed for a single murder before, and that Van der Graaf had a clean record. The verdict is expected in two weeks' time.
And the procecuter is trying to divert attention to the motives, it was a political murder.
Life in prison in the Netherlands means a maximum of 20 years, eventualy followed by forced treatment. But it's rarely given, and mostly people only serve 10 to 14 years.
Un-stinkin'-believable.
I ain't gonna say it.
Pardon, but why do they call it "life in prison" then? You can do a cold-blooded murder in Holland and serve 10-14, (theoretically 20) while the innocent victim remains dead, of course. Something's wrong here, it's like the murderer's life is far more important than the victim's life was.
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