Suspected assassin ordered to mental hospital

Judges today ordered the accused assassin of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn moved from prison to a mental institute for a psychiatric observation, a process that will delay the start of his high profile trial until next year.

The judges, sitting in Amsterdam, rejected a prosecution request for a special team of psychologists to investigate Vokert van der Graaf, the 33-year-old animal rights activist accused of killing Fortuyn with five shots from close range.

Instead, he was ordered to be admitted to a centre that specialises in evaluating the mental condition of criminal suspects.

The murder was the first of a prominent political figure in the Netherlands in 400 years and came just nine days before national elections in which Fortuyn’s newly-created party rode a wave of sympathy to a second place finish and a partnership in the ruling coalition – which has since collapsed.