THE NETHERLANDS: The man who confessed to killing the Dutch politician, Pim Fortuyn, told a court yesterday 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 6th last, just days before a general election.
At the start of his trial in Amsterdam, 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 a panel of judges. There are no jury trials in the Netherlands.
Van der Graaf appeared relaxed and confident. He briefly scanned the public gallery for familiar faces, avoiding eye contact with Fortuyn's two brothers, Marten and Simon, who were sitting a few yards away.
"[The idea\] was never concrete until the last moment, the day before the attack," van der Graaf said. "I confess to the shooting." He also confessed to illegal possession of firearms and sending Fortuyn threats before carrying out the attack.
Van der Graaf said he had followed Fortuyn's career as a columnist for a popular national magazine and was concerned he was using "the weak parts of society to score points" and gain political power.
Muslims in the Netherlands were being used as "scapegoats", he said. "I saw it as a danger. I hoped that I could solve it myself."
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 the murder.
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.
During several days of hearings judges will consider his mental state at the time of the shooting and whether he can be held accountable for his actions.