Activist on trial for Pim Fortuyn murder

The shooting came just days ahead of a general election in which Fortuyn was running for prime minister on an anti-immigration platform.

Although Van der Graaf confessed, under Dutch law prosecutors need to present their case to a panel of judges. There are no jury trials in the Netherlands.

Van der Graaf was caught with the murder weapon in his pocket and spatters of Fortuyn’s blood on his trousers. In November, he admitted carrying out the murder, saying he had been worried Fortuyn was gaining too much power and posed a threat to “vulnerable members of society”.

He is charged with premeditated murder and faces life in prison if convicted. During several days of hearings at a high-security courtroom nicknamed The Bunker, judges will consider his mental state at the time of the shooting and whether he can be held accountable for his actions.

For the public, the trial may provide insight into the character and motives of a man who thrust the country into crisis.

Fortuyn, a brash gay academic and columnist, swiftly gained popularity with calls to close the borders to newcomers, at one time calling Islam a “backward religion”. His party won more than 10% of the electorate and a place in the three-party right-wing governing coalition.

After its unprecedented rise in power, bickering in Fortuyn’s party led to the fall of the government and fresh elections in January. With coalition talks ongoing, political stability has yet to returned to the country.

A graduate of the country’s leading agriculture university, Van der Graaf went on to become a tough and successful lawyer against commercial animal farming. At the time of the murder, he lived with his long-time girlfriend and baby daughter.

In prison, he went on hunger strike for more than two months to protest against round-the-clock camera surveillance in his cell.