Prosecutors began presenting their case in the Netherlands today against the man accused of killing filmmaker Theo van Gogh, pushing for convictions on murder and terrorism charges.

THE man accused of killing Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh defied the judges at the opening of his trial yesterday, strolling into court with a Koran under his arm and refusing to mount a defence before civilian authorities.

The accused killer of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh ignored his victim’s pleas for mercy and calmly shot him at close range before slitting his throat, prosecutors said today at the first public hearing in the murder case.

Six men arrested following the killing of filmmaker Theo van Gogh are no longer suspects in the murder, but still face charges of belonging to a terrorist group, authorities said today.

Dutch Muslims and Christians called for an end to a cycle of retaliatory vandalism of mosques and churches as slain filmmaker Theo van Gogh was cremated, a week after his killing by a suspected Islamic radical.