Volkert van der Graaf, jailed for 18 years in 2003 for the murder of populist politician Pim Fortuyn, is due to be released from prison on Friday.

Van der Graaf will then have served two-thirds of his sentence without incident and is entitled to leave jail.

The justice ministry is keeping tight-lipped about where Van der Graaf will be taken. Experts have already warned he could be the subject of a manhunt and point to recent demonstrations outside the home of convicted child abuser Benno L.

Murderers used to be able to start a new life on their release, lawyer Willem Anker told the Telegraaf. ‘But that is no longer the case. In a society in which your photo is permanently on the internet and everyone is in contact with everyone else, your sentence really can mean life.’

Conditions

A number of conditions have been attached to his release. Van der Graaf must report weekly to his probation officers and is not allowed to visit Rotterdam, Haarlem or Hilversum. He will be given an ankle monitor and banned from speaking to either Fortuyn’s relatives or the press.

In January it emerged Van der Graaf had been on prison leave, despite efforts by junior justice minister Fred Teeven to halt it. Teeven was ordered by a legal appeal committee to allow Van der Graaf leave to prepare himself for life outside jail.

Threat

The minister earlier refused to allow him trial home leave to help him acclimatise to normal society again, saying there would be a serious risk of public disorder and Van der Graaf and his family could also be under threat.

Van der Graaf, a militant animal rights activist, shot Fortuyn dead in a car park in Hilversum shortly before the 2003 general election. Fortuyn’s LPF party was riding high in the polls at the time.