The appeal court in The Hague on Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling lifting some of the special parole conditions imposed on the killer of populist politician Pim Fortuyn following his early release from jail.

Volkert van der Graaf was freed in May after serving two-thirds of his 18 year sentence for shooting Fortuyn outside a radio station.

He was subjected to electronic tagging via an ankle monitor and was banned from speaking to either Fortuyn’s relatives or the press and from going to Rotterdam, Haarlem and Hilversum.

The lower court said in July the electronic tagging and banning orders were too tough and imposed considerable restrictions on Van der Graaf’s freedom of movement. Nor were they consistent with their aim – that of protecting society – the court said.

Van der Graaf went to court in an effort to have the conditions removed, saying they were ‘completely unreasonable’ and made it impossible for him to rebuild his life and visit his family.