A petition is being set up to stop the early release of animal rights activist Volkert van der Graaf who shot dead politician Pim Fortuyn in 2002.
The petition is the initiative of Fortuyn’s chaffeur Hans Smolders, who chased after Van der Graaf, making a quick arrest possible.
According to Smolders, Van der Graaf has no remorse for his action and it is not possible to say with certainty he will not kill again.
Van der Graaf was sentenced to 18 years in prison but is eligible for release after serving two-thirds of his sentence.
Nine days
Fortuyn was shot nine days before the general election of 2002. The party he founded, the LPF, went on to take 26 seats in parliament and was part of the coalition government.
The government collapsed a year later and the LPF won eight seats in the subsequent election. In 2006, it took none.
An opinion poll conducted by the Telegraaf in 2007 showed 25% of the population would have voted for Fortuyn if he was still alive. Over half of those polled said Fortuyn had changed the face of Dutch politics.
Van der Graaf is back in the news because he gave an interview to the programme Edwin zoekt Fortuyn, in which the politician’s nephew is searching for his uncle’s motivation.
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