On 6 May 2002 , at age 54 , Fortuyn was assassinated by gunshot in Hilversum , North Holland , by Volkert van der Graaf . The attack took place in a parking lot outside a radio studio where Fortuyn had just given an interview . This was nine days before the general election , for which he was running . The attacker was pursued by Hans Smolders , Fortuyn 's driver , and was arrested by the police shortly afterward , still in possession of a handgun . Months later , Van der Graaf confessed in court to the first notable political assassination in the Netherlands since 1672 ( excluding World War II ) , and on 15 April 2003 , he was convicted of assassinating Fortuyn and sentenced to 18 years in prison . He was released on parole in May 2014 after serving two thirds of his sentence , the standard procedure under the Dutch penal system
assassinated
Assassination of Pim Fortuyn
Pim Fortuyn