Appeal upholds 18-year jail term for Fortuyn's killer

The court of appeal in Amsterdam has upheld the eighteen-year prison sentence imposed on Volkert van der Graaf for the murder of populist politician Pim Fortuyn.

In contrast to the assessment at the original trial, the appeal court found that there was a risk that Van der Graaf could kill again. It also condemned the killing more strongly as a threat to the democratic process.

However, the court decided not to impose a heavier sentence, due to the fact that Van der Graaf has no previous convictions. The appeal verdict represents a defeat for the Public Prosecutor's Office, which once again argued that Pim Fortuyn's killer should be sentenced to life.


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No change for killer

The assassin of flamboyant Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn will remain in jail for 11 years following an Amsterdam appeal court's decision to uphold an earlier sentencing. Both prosecutors and lawyers for Volkert van der Graaf, the 34-year-old animal rights activist who gunned down Mr Fortuyn in May last year, had appealed the original sentence.

The prosecution wanted a life sentence for a killing which "interfered with the political process." Van der Graaf shot Mr Fortuyn in a car park outside a radio station in the town of Hilversum just nine days before a general election.

The LPF, Mr Fortuyn's new but now rudderless party, went on to make a stunning debut at the polls. It formed part of coalition government which subsequently collapsed, largely thanks to bickering within its own inexperienced ranks.

Animal link
Van der Graaf, after a long silence, admitted he had killed the unpredictably right-wing Mr Fortuyn because he saw him as a "considerable danger to the weaker groups in society", such as Muslims, asylum seekers, and by tenuous extension, animals.

The activist was sentenced in April this year to 18 years in prison for the murder. With parole considerations – automatic in the Netherlands - this actually means he will only have to serve 12 years, minus the time he has already been in custody.

The prosecution considered this too light a sentence for the crime and appealed. Van der Graaf's lawyers said their client, whose case had been the subject of intense debate in the Netherlands, had not had a fair trial and had been subject to inhumane conditions such as isolation and 24-hour monitoring. They also appealed.

Defence pleased
Friday morning's judgement dismissed the appeals. RN's Matthijs Nieuwenhuis, who attended the case, says that despite their appeal, defence lawyers are happy with the outcome. Presiding judge Jeroen Chorus gave no reasons for refusing a life sentence, however he did confirm that the assassination could not be treated as a common murder, and must be considered according to its malignant effect on the democratic process.

The court ruled that another defence ploy, that Van der Graaf suffered from a kind of autism, was groundless. Nieuwenhuis says there is a small possibility of a further appeal on procedural grounds, but this should make little difference to the prisoner's sentence.

http://www.rnw.nl/hotspots/html/ned030718.html

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