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WHEN Geert Wilders, a Dutch politician, collected his post from the letterbox on Wednesday he got an unpleasant surprise. Among the bills and junk mail was a letter addressing him as “ugly dog”. It told him he would soon be beheaded. It was an unnerving way to start the day. Only 24 hours earlier Theo van Gogh, the film maker who had often attacked radical Muslims, had been riding along on his bicycle when a Muslim fanatic first shot and then butchered him on a busy street with the nonchalance of an abattoir worker.

The Dutch plans to forcibly remove tens of thousands of asylum seekers may sit ill at ease with Holland's long-standing reputation as a bastion of liberalism and laissez-faire attitudes. But the expression "Normen en waarden" - norms and values - has become a catchphrase in the country, whose residents have in recent years expressed increasing unease with sharing their homeland with foreigners who they say do not subscribe to Dutch values. The meteoric rise of the populist Pim Fortuyn - who campaigned on an anti-immigration, anti-Islam ticket prior to his assassination in 2002 - was widely interpreted as a wake-up...

Fortuyn Assassin Sentenced to 18 Years By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - The man who confessed to killing Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn was sentenced to 18 years in prison Tuesday for the first political assassination in the Netherlands since World War II. Angry Fortuyn supporters — who had wanted a life sentence — booed the decision and stormed out of the courtroom. One woman broke down in sobs after the sentence was read out. "All considered, a sentence of life imprisonment would not be appropriate in this case," said Presiding Judge Frans Bauduin. "Therefore we are giving...

'I shot Fortuyn for Dutch Muslims,' says accused Andrew Osborn Friday March 28, 2003The GuardianThe long-awaited trial of Pim Fortuyn's alleged killer got under way in the Netherlands yesterday with a stark admission from the main defendant that he had assassinated the anti-immigration politician as a favour to the country's Muslim minority and other vulnerable sections of society. Fortuyn, a flamboyant, openly gay politician who called Islam "backward" and favoured zero immigration, was shot dead last May, plunging the Netherlands into political crisis. Tipped to become the country's next prime minister, Fortuyn's death galvanised support for his fledgling political movement...

AN ANIMAL rights activist confessed yesterday to murdering the populist Dutch anti- immigration politician Pim Fortuyn last May. “I could see no other option than to do what I did,” Volkert van der Graaf said at his trial in a high-security Amsterdam court, known as “the bunker”. He added that he believed Fortuyn, 54, had tried to abuse the strong anti-Muslim feelings prevalent after the September 11 terrorist attacks for his own aggrandisement. “I got the impression he was looking for a scapegoat he could use to increase his popularity. That was a great concern to me,” Van der Graaf...

The man who confessed to killing Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn today told a court he did it to protect the country’s muslim minority from Fortuyn’s anti-immigration policies. Volkert van der Graaf, a 33-year-old animal rights activist, was arrested moments after Fortuyn was gunned down in a car park outside a radio studio on May 6, 2002, just days before a general election. At the start of his trial today, he openly answered questions about the motives behind the first political assassination in modern Dutch history. Although Van der Graaf confessed, under Dutch law prosecutors need to present their case to...

Pouring out of Rotterdam's Al-Nasr mosque after prayers yesterday, Arabs and Berbers were ecstatic over the crushing defeat meted out to Pim Fortuyn's anti-Islamic party in this week's elections. One let out a huge sigh of relief. "Very good," he said in mixture of broken Dutch and French before hurrying off to the Oude West, a sprawling Muslim city to the west of Rotterdam, the world's biggest port, where headscarves are de rigeur for women - brightly coloured for Turks, sombre for North Africans. The mosque is a red brick edifice that blends into the Dutch cityscape in contrast to...

Pim Fortuyn's party faces oblivion in today's Dutch general election, but the assassinated gay populist has left a trail of shattered taboos and pulled Holland's political establishment far into his camp. A poll published yesterday by the Dutch Nipo institute predicted that the Pim Fortuyn List would win only six seats, down from 26 in the last election last May. But as voters go to the polls in search of a durable government, after Fortuyn's squabbling followers tore the last one to pieces, they face a Left, Right and Centre that are all echoing his call for law and order...

AMSTERDAM — Ayaan Hirsi Ali had done well in the 10 years since she arrived in the Netherlands as a young refugee from Somalia and, until a few months ago, she lived a quiet life in her adopted land. Never did she intend to create a national commotion. She studied Dutch, took on cleaning jobs, went to university and worked as a political scientist. She made a name for herself pressing for the emancipation of Muslim women and documenting how thousands, living even here, were subjected to beatings, incest and emotional and sexual abuse. To the surprise of many, she...

AMSTERDAM - Police on Tuesday announced the arrest of 210 illegal immigrants from the Balkans in the largest sweep since a center-right government took office in July, promising tighter immigration controls. The arrests were made over the past few days in Amsterdam and the entire group will be put on a charter plane back to the Balkans on Wednesday, officials said. Police spokeswoman Elly Florax said most of those arrested were Bulgarian, including many who had committed petty crimes such as pick-pocketing and shoplifting. One group had set up a scam this summer, posing as police agents in order to...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - The new Dutch government released budget and policy guidelines Tuesday that toughened immigration controls and left behind more liberal, tolerant policies that governed the Netherlands over the past few decades. The budget for year ending December 2003 cuts funds for processing would-be immigrants and asylum-seekers, while boosting funds for detaining and deporting them. But the policy guidelines set for the next four years go much further. The new center-right government plans to reduce immigration by 25 percent in its first year; make entry into the country without a visa a criminal offense; imprison would-be immigrants who...

Powered by SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close Dutch rightist Fortuyn shot dead AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (CNN) --Maverick Dutch right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn has been shot dead, police have told CNN. Fortuyn, 54, was shot in the head at least three times at close range as he was going to a Dutch national radio station in Hilversum, the Associated Press reported. Opinion polls had shown that Fortuyn and his party, running on an anti-immigration platform, were scheduled to win a large block in the country's parliament in May 15 elections. A man who was believed to have been carrying a...

Thousands of people have taken part in a rally in the Dutch city of Rotterdam in protest at the assassination of right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn. The Dutch Government has announced next week's general election will go ahead as planned, despite (right wing politician) Pim Fortuyn's murder on Monday evening. Police say they have detained their prime suspect in the case - a 32-year-old white Dutchman. Reports say he was an animal-rights activist angered by Fortuyn's calls to lift a ban on fur farming. The public prosecutor said ammunition was found at the suspect's house, matching the calibre of the...

Huge gains for Dutch far right Andrew Osborn Friday March 8, 2002 The Guardian The Dutch government was under pressure last night after a new far-right movement committed to slashing immigration made widespread gains in local elections and became the biggest political force in Rotterdam, the Netherlands' second city. The spectacular gains by the charismatic but openly racist politician Pim Fortuyn and a loose coalition of parties centred on the anti-immigration Leefbaar Nederland (Liveable Netherlands) movement come two months before national elections and threaten to shatter the country's image as an ultra-tolerant society. Mr Fortuyn favours zero Muslim immigration, wants ...

<p>May 7, 2002 -- ROTTERDAM, Netherlands - A maverick Dutch politician - who called Islamic culture "backward" in an interview last week - was shot dead yesterday as he left a radio interview.</p> <p>Right-winger Pim Fortuyn, whose anti-immigration party made a surprisingly strong showing in local elections in March, was shot six times in the head, neck and chest.</p>

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Populist Pim Fortuyn, whose May murder was as sensational as his controversy-courting views and his sprint to Dutch political prominence, will be finally laid to rest Saturday in a marble tomb in his beloved Italy. The flamboyant ex-professor, gunned down just days before an election that whisked his novice party into power, was disinterred Friday from a temporary grave in his birthplace near Amsterdam before flowers, toys and letters were cast in. Escorted by police -- and dozens of leather-clad motorbikers -- Fortuyn's sunflower-bedecked white hearse was driven to Rotterdam airport, where friends and family began a...

The new centre-right Cabinet is likely to question the tolerance shown towards soft drugs, gay issues and euthanasia AMSTERDAM - Holland's liberal lifestyle is under threat from its new centre-right government, which is planning to review the status of the country's drug cafes and laws that allow same-sex marriage and euthanasia. Dutch Christian Democrat (CDA) leader Jan Peter Balkenende set about forming a new government at the weekend, seven weeks after May's legislative election which was overshadowed by the murder of populist politician Pim Fortuyn. Mr Balkenende, a 46-year-old Harry Potter lookalike, has two weeks in which to appoint his...

Austrian populist Jörg Haider's plans to build a right-wing pan- European club could attract some surprising supporters, says Kate Connolly Just as Austria's Jörg Haider thought his star was being overshadowed by the recent success of other far-right politicians in Europe, he has cunningly come up with a plan that could eclipse them all. The success of Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front in France's elections prompted the far-rightist to unveil his plans to establish a pan-European anti-Europe platform. Several European elections later, his ideas have developed considerably. In a recent interview with Italy's conservative daily Corriere della Sera, he announced...

AMSTERDAM - Murdered maverick Pim Fortuyn personally attracted more than 14 per cent of votes in last week's bombshell Dutch election, final data showed on Tuesday. Over 1.3 million people ticked the dead man's name -- giving him 84 per cent of the votes cast for the three-month-old Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) populist party that took second place as the Netherlands shifted rightwards in the May 15 general election. Fortuyn, who was gunned down nine days before the poll, still had his name on ballot forms because names could not be removed after an April deadline. In Dutch proportional representation,...

To Ground Zero, or next to it, to meet Jorg Haider, the governor of Carinthia and head of the Freedom Party of Austria. There are not many politicians quite like Haider around, certainly not in Europe, where they tend to run to fat, bald, ugly and definitely hypocritical. Haider is trim, athletic, with a full head of hair, suntanned and good-looking, just like the Austrians one sees in ski movies. He also speaks his mind. I particularly liked his aides, young Austrian men with very good manners and none of that "Who the hell are you?" look so many gofers...

PARIS (May 14, 2002 8:42 p.m. EDT) - In life, Dutch populist leader Pim Fortuyn was an upstart maverick, playing on xenophobic fears no traditional politician had dared to tap. In death, following his murder, Mr. Fortuyn drew almost the entire Dutch cabinet to his funeral, amid an outpouring of public sympathy. After parliamentary elections today, his party could hold the balance of power.v Across Europe, in a violent wake-up call to ruling elites, far-right parties beating the anti-immigrant drum have seized on people's concerns about crime and foreigners to shape a new political agenda. And as they move Europe's...

I have just posted the article, which I have been working on for the past several days, prompted by the recent vicious turn in Leftwing politics in Europe. It is called The Big Truth, and basically suggests that Conservatives trying to defend their respective traditions in the various nations under attack from the Left--including America--should answer their foes by a simple iteration of basic truths. Comments are invited. Suggested revisions will be carefully considered. William Flax

The assassination of Pim Fortuyn, a Dutch rightwing politician who was outspoken against the influx of Muslims into Holland and the rest of Europe, and an opponent of immigration, needs to be seen in the larger context of how the growing Muslim population is having an impact throughout Europe and Great Britain. Americans tend to pay little attention to other nations unless they pose a threat to our national security. It is doubtful that the average American could tell you much about the politics of Great Britain or European nations. The recent French elections got everyone’s attention because an avowed...

Anti-immigration party poised to be the big election winnerThe Dutch are expected to vote en masse for a dead man in the general election this week, as a wave of sympathy sweeps the Netherlands for the murdered anti-immigration party leader, Pim Fortuyn. The national mourning for the gay former Marxist academic is like that in Britain for Diana, Princess of Wales. Tens of thousands stood outside Rotterdam cathedral for his funeral on Friday, chanting Fortuyn's name and singing, 'You'll Never Walk Alone'. Most polls published before his murder by an environmental activist last Monday gave his party about 17 per...

THREE days before Christmas 1996, Chris Van de Werken, an environment officer in the sleepy little town of Nunspeet, 40 miles east of Amsterdam, went jogging in the woods near his home. He never came back. Alerted by gunshots, passers-by found Van de Werken's body on a cycle path. Although dozens of people were questioned, no motive was established and nobody was charged. In April 1997 the inquiry was closed. Five years later it has been reopened. This weekend, as the Netherlands mourned Pim Fortuyn, the populist right-wing politician, police were investigating links between his assassination last Monday and what...

Melanie Phillips on how Pim Fortuyn and others hijacked liberal values and provoked a Muslim backlash against liberalism itself At first blush, the murdered Dutch maverick Pim Fortuyn and I would not appear to have been natural bedfellows. He was, after all, a flamboyant, post-Marxist, gay libertarian who advocated sexual permissiveness, casual drug use and euthanasia. I campaign for traditional family values, deeply oppose drug use and euthanasia, and do not employ a butler, wear a spaniel under my arm or smoke Cuban cigars. However, one thing he stood for did ring a bell with me. He was, above all,...

<p>Since we suffer from acute political "taxonomitis" in America--a reflexive condition that compels us to label people as right- or left-wing, or liberal, conservative, fascist and so forth, without much concession to shade or nuance--we've all been flummoxed by the murder of Pim Fortuyn.</p>

If the growing popularity of an extreme right-wing party bewildered and frightened the Dutch, the assassination of its leader, Tim Fortuyn, earlier this week appears to have numbed their faculties. His spectacular success in the local elections last March, and the even more striking success that opinion polls predicted for him in the general election scheduled for May 15, had rattled the political establishment and large sections of public opinion. They simply could not understand how the xenophobic outpourings of Fortuyn could strike a chord in a country which is envied for its prosperity, welfare measures, political stability, progressive laws,...

© 2002 Creators Syndicate, Inc. "Volkert van der Graf, 32, is a slender, blond-haired Dutchman whose pictures reveal nothing special except perhaps a taut, ascetic look. "But for almost a decade, friends and associates say, this quiet man and strict vegetarian has been consumed by his fight to reduce the suffering of animals reared in industrial quantities for food, fur coats or medical experiments." Sounds like a description of St. Francis of Assisi, doesn't it? But it is not. These are the lead paragraphs in The New York Times story that describes the enviro-fanatic charged with gunning down Dutch politician...

Joao Varela wept without shame as the Netherlands reeled in shock after the assassination of Pim Fortuyn. "He was like a father to me," the young deputy to the anti-immigrant politician said in a brief TV appearance. "He was very inspiring and could have made a difference for Holland." It was another extraordinary moment in the extraordinary drama that has shaken this quiet and prosperous country since the charismatic and controversial populist was killed on Monday by a lone gunman days before the general election. For the acting leader of Lijst Pim Fortuyn (LPF) - which is now likely to...

AMSTERDAM: Dozens of threatening letters containing an unidentified white powder were sent to some 80 Dutch Hindu groups this week, accusing them of supporting murdered politician Pim Fortuyn, one of the groups said on Thursday. But the organisations had not taken any stand in support of anti-immigration campaigner Fortuyn, who was shot dead on Monday just as his new party was surging in opinion polls, said a representative of the Hindu group SHPN. The letters, signed "Dutch al-Qaeda", were received on Monday and Tuesday. They have been reported to the police. Fortuyn's party had been expected to win some 17...

Thousands of people from all over the Netherlands are paying their last respects in Rotterdam to the murdered politician Pim Fortuyn. Fortuyn, who had been due to lead his controversial anti-immigration party into next week's general election, was shot dead on Monday in the city of Hilversum. His body is lying in state at the city's Roman Catholic cathedral. The Netherlands has not seen such an event since 1962, when Queen Wilhelmina died. Many had been queuing for five hours for the chance to file past his open coffin. By early afternoon, the crowd was so large that the cathedral...

"I won't say nothing, phone my lawyer"Reformatisch Dagblad By Jan van Klinken, AMSTERDAM - Volkert van der G., the 32 year old man from Harderwijk that is the suspect in the Pim Fortuyn killing, is part of a wide spread netwerk of actiongroups. In that world the panic increased lately. The incredible victory that List Pim Fortuyn was heading to, was a nightmare for the (ultra)left actionnetwork. "I won't say anything, phone my lawyer mr. Bakker Schut." Was the only thing that Volkert van der G. would say to the police after he was arrested six minutes after the murder...

The body of murdered Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is to lie in Rotterdam Cathedral the day before his funeral, the Dutch Catholic Church has said. Church spokesman Peter van Zoest told BBC News Online: "It is the wish of the family and it is very unusual. There will be a lot of people." Funerals of even high officials in the Netherlands are often private affairs. It is believed that the last time a body lay in state in the Netherlands was in 1962 when Queen Wilhelmina died. Mr Van Zoest said it was unclear if the body of the...

A 32-year-old animal rights activist was remanded in custody by an Amsterdam court on suspicion of murdering Dutch far-right leader Pim Fortuyn, a court spokeswoman told AFP."The judge felt there were sufficient grounds to keep the suspect in custody," said spokeswoman Mercedes Grootscholten.The man has not been formally charged as the murder investigation is still ongoing, she added. The court refused to confirm the identify of the suspect, who has been widely named as Volkert van der Graaf.A spokesman for the prosecutor said earlier that the prosecution intends to charge the suspect with murder.According to press reports, Van der...

An animal lover assassinated by a vegan ...a nationalist, he will be buried abroad PIM FORTUYN told The Times last week that he was driven above all by a love of The Netherlands. But the murdered Dutch nationalist has chosen to be buried in a small village in Italy. Mr Fortuyn was a well-known animal lover who was never without his lapdogs Kenneth and Carla. The man suspected of killing him is a vegan animal rights activist who believes that protecting animals civilises people. Mr Fortuyn’s views on immigration were reviled by many in The Netherlands. Yet thousands turned out...

Statement Animal Freedom (may 7, 2002). Volkert is not and was not a member of Animal Freedom. This text is from an interview done by phone 2 years ago.Volkert van der Graaf Even in elementary school I was interested in animals, the environment and nature. I was a member of the WWF Rangers, and we did things like picking up garbage in the dunes, etc. I also used to fish, with my brother who was two years older. I used to get a kick out of catching fish. My brother put the worms on the hook. I did think it...

Thousands of people have taken part in a rally in the Dutch city of Rotterdam in protest at the assassination of right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn. The Dutch Government has announced next week's general election will go ahead as planned, despite Fortuyn's murder on Monday evening. Police say they have detained their prime suspect in the case - a 32-year-old white Dutchman. Reports say he was an animal-rights activist angered by Fortuyn's calls to lift a ban on fur farming. The public prosecutor said ammunition was found at the suspect's house, matching the calibre of the bullets which killed Fortuyn. Police...

<p>Police arrested a suspect, a white male Dutch citizen, close to the scene of the 6 p.m. shooting in Hilversum, 10 miles south of Amsterdam. The shaven-headed Mr. Fortuyn, 53, sustained numerous gunshot wounds to the head, chest and neck as he emerged from a radio studio and approached his car.</p>

AMSTERDAM, May 7 (Reuters) - The suspected killer of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn is a vegan animal rights activist who declares on the Internet that "protecting animals is civilising people", a source close to Fortuyn's party said on Tuesday. A 32-year-old man from the staunchly religious central Dutch town of Harderwijk is being held for Monday's shooting, and justice officials said bullets and environmentalist material were found during a search of his home. The man, in custody but not identified by police, says on the Internet he is a member of a small, little-known animal welfare group fighting to stop...

The Hague (dpa) - Police believe the suspect arrested in the Monday shooting of right-wing populist Pim Fortuyn is an environmental activist, a Dutch prosecutor said Tuesday. A search of the suspect's home in Harderwijk, Gelderland province, uncovered documents indicating the suspect was heavily involved in environmental issues. However, a motive for the assassination was not given. The suspect fired five shots with a pistol, two of which struck Fortuyn in the back, two in the neck and one in the head, the prosecutor said. Fortuyn was shot as he left a radio station in Hilversum, and died before he...

After a meeting with Wim Kok and List Pim Fortuyn, it is decided that the Dutch elections will go on as planned on May 15.Yesterday Pim Fortuyn, party leader of LPF was shot dead by an extreme left activist.There were doubts wether the elections would still go on.List Pim Fortuyn decided to go on and that the May 15 elections will still be held.

Hilversum/The Hague - Pim Fortuyn is dead. The 54 year old politician was killed in a cowardly way just after 18.00 hour in front of the studio from Radio 3 at the Mediapark in Hilversum. Fortuyn, that was threahened that same day earleir, was hit bi at least three bullets in the head, neck and chest. Inspite of efforts to reanimate him by the medics. The cabinet yesterday met in an emergency meeting. Agreed was upon that today togehter with the leaders of List Pim Fortuyn the decision will be made wether the elections will continu May 15. "Everyone wil...

Pim Fortuyn, Dutch right-wing politician, has been shot by an unknown gunman. Between three and 6 six were fired. Gunman still at large. Fortuyn was shot when leaving the Radia 3 studio. He was heavily wounded and was transported to hospital.

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — For the Dutch, it's an election like no other. The dispassionate politicians who have led them for decades are facing an unfamiliar, bare-knuckle fight that is forcing the nation to confront long-hidden demons. The campaign for the May 15 parliamentary elections has been energized by a flamboyant, shaven-headed former academic and columnist, a man who leads an openly gay lifestyle, supports personal liberties, and has laid claim to leadership of Holland's perennially vacant political right. Pim Fortuyn has dictated debate with verbal attacks on the country's growing Muslim population and with an indictment of the shortcomings...

Last week there were local elections in the Netherlands. In Rotterdam, the second largest city in the Netherlands, Pim Fortuyn took part with his party 'Livable Rotterdam'. Pim Fortuyn has also formed a new national party, 'List Fortuyn'. He quickly became known in the international as 'the Dutch Haider', calling him 'far right' and comparing his politics to that of Haider and some people in the Netherlands call him fascist or nazi'. Wim Kok called Fortuyn an evil man and he was using the hate against immigrants, the BBC and Time compared him to Haider, Marcel van Dam (ex-PvdA, currently...