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"Activist" sentenced to 18 years for Fortuyn assassination

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  • "Activist" sentenced to 18 years for Fortuyn assassination

    Story from Reuters.

    Dutch Activist Gets 18 Years for Fortuyn Murder
    Tue April 15, 2003 05:20 AM ET

    AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The confessed assassin of Dutch populist politician Pim Fortuyn was jailed for 18 years on Tuesday for the Netherlands' first political killing in more than three centuries.

    Animal rights activist Volkert van der Graaf, whose trial ended two weeks ago, had admitted to shooting Fortuyn at point-blank range nine days before May 2002 elections that swept the taboo-breaking politician's novice party into power.

    "The accused went about his plan to kill the victim with calm consideration," presiding judge Frans Bauduin told a high-security court on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
    The brutal way Fortuyn was killed, the impact on the democratic process, the shaken legal order and the deterrent effect of a sentence were all factors the three judges took into account in determining the penalty, Bauduin said.

    Prosecutors had demanded a life sentence for Van der Graaf, saying Fortuyn's murder was an attack on democracy itself. Defense lawyers had said the crime should be treated like a "simple murder" and that life in jail was "unthinkable."

    Fortuyn, 54, a homosexual who courted controversy by calling for an immigration freeze and criticizing Islam, was gunned down outside a radio station in Hilversum, near Amsterdam. Van der Graaf was arrested minutes after the shooting.

    Van der Graaf, a 33-year-old vegan, said he shot Fortuyn because he saw him as a power-hungry danger to society who "abused democracy" by trying to make scapegoats of vulnerable social groups for his own gain.
    Van der Graaf, who had no previous convictions, was charged with murder, illegal possession of a firearm and using that weapon to threaten a man who gave chase after the May 6 murder.

    The Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) swept from nowhere to come second in last May's election, and took a place in a short-lived center-right government. But infighting between two LPF ministers brought down the government last autumn after just 87 days, and new elections held this January saw the LPF lose all but eight of the 26 seats it had grabbed on its election debut.
    I suppose this is a just sentence, all things considered.

  • #2
    Vegans assassinating homosexuals, what is the world coming to!

    Seriously, why have they always got to label people like that even when it is completely irrelevant?
    Rethink Refuse Reduce Reuse

    Do It Ourselves

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    • #3
      i think a life sentence would have been better, under the circumstances.
      "The Christian way has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found to be hard and left untried" - GK Chesterton.

      "The most obvious predicition about the future is that it will be mostly like the past" - Alain de Botton

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      • #4
        We have a nice thing in The Netherlands that everyone who's jailed will be freed after 66% of the time has been completed.

        This means that he got a 12 years punishment.

        It almost makes killing a politician pay on the long run.
        Formerly known as "CyberShy"
        Carpe Diem tamen Memento Mori

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        • #5
          He killed someone in cold blood and is going to get out in 12 years. Where's the justice?
          Visit the Vote UK Discussion Forum!

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          • #6
            Same thing in Denmark, Cyber. Twists the picture a bit to say the least. I imagine they'll keep an alert eye on this guy even after he's released though.

            The sad thing is he probably still feels he was justified in the assassination. He was trying to help those cuttly furry animals among other things, remember?

            Iain: I reckon he would have been out after ~15 yrs. even with a life sentence. At least if the Dutch penal system is like Denmark's. 90% of lifers here are released after a maximum of 16 years. And life is a rare sentence here anyway.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Winston
              Same thing in Denmark, Cyber. Twists the picture a bit to say the least. I imagine they'll keep an alert eye on this guy even after he's released though.

              The sad thing is he probably still feels he was justified in the assassination. He was trying to help those cuttly furry animals among other things, remember?
              See, there's that labeling again. They call him an "animal rights activist" even when it has no relevance to the story. I quote the article:

              Van der Graaf, a 33-year-old vegan, said he shot Fortuyn because he saw him as a power-hungry danger to society who "abused democracy" by trying to make scapegoats of vulnerable social groups for his own gain.
              Nothing about animals in there.

              Seems that he wasn't the only one making scapegoats, though.
              Rethink Refuse Reduce Reuse

              Do It Ourselves

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              • #8
                Wasn't there something earlier about the guy shooting Fortyun at least partially because of Fortyun's fur wearing habits?
                "Spirit merges with matter to sanctify the universe. Matter transcends to return to spirit. The interchangeability of matter and spirit means the starlit magic of the outermost life of our universe becomes the soul-light magic of the innermost life of our self." - Dennis Kucinich, candidate for the U. S. presidency
                "That’s the future of the Democratic Party: providing Republicans with a number of cute (but not that bright) comfort women." - Adam Yoshida, Canada's gift to the world

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                • #9
                  Osweld, research the case before you speak so confidently. He gave as part of his motive for the assassination a protes against the re-legalisation of fur animal farming which was a part of Fontuyn's party programme.

                  So yes, the "labeling" is relevant to the case.

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                  • #10
                    Anyone here complaining about the prison-time ever was in jail? I was once for 7 weeks in jail and it seemed more like a year....

                    So 12 Years is a hell of a lot time....
                    If its no fun why do it? Dance like noone is watching...

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                    • #11
                      i think it's a bit worrying that osweld is more concerned about the fact that they called him an 'animal rights activist' that the fact he got off with only 18 (12) years for cold blooded murder...
                      "The Christian way has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found to be hard and left untried" - GK Chesterton.

                      "The most obvious predicition about the future is that it will be mostly like the past" - Alain de Botton

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                      • #12
                        still, It's nothing compared to DYING.
                        urgh.NSFW

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Winston
                          Osweld, research the case before you speak so confidently. He gave as part of his motive for the assassination a protes against the re-legalisation of fur animal farming which was a part of Fontuyn's party programme.

                          So yes, the "labeling" is relevant to the case.
                          I didn't speak confidently, I was just going by what the article said.

                          It's still a scapegoat, though.
                          Rethink Refuse Reduce Reuse

                          Do It Ourselves

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                          • #14
                            still, It's nothing compared to DYING.
                            With a 12 years sentence I would go suicide, no question...
                            If its no fun why do it? Dance like noone is watching...

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                            • #15
                              How much is the usual prison time for murer in NL ? I don't think there should be any exception for this guy, even though the murder was political rather than personal. Political murder shouldn't have more punishment than normal murder.
                              "I have been reading up on the universe and have come to the conclusion that the universe is a good thing." -- Dissident
                              "I never had the need to have a boner." -- Dissident
                              "I have never cut off my penis when I was upset over a girl." -- Dis

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