Junior justice minister Fred Teeven has been ordered by a legal appeal committee to allow the killer of Pim Fortuyn parole.

Teeven earlier refused to allow Volkert van der Graff out of jail on trial home leave to help him acclimatise to normal society again, saying there would be a serious risk of public disorder and Van der Graaf and his family could also be under threat.

Teeven said on Tuesday he had no choice but to respect the committee’s ruling. ‘He will go on trial leave when it is possible to do this safely, and that is a decision I will take,’ Teeven is quoted as saying by Nos television.

Shooting

Van der Graaf, a militant animal rights activist, shot Fortuyn dead in a car park in Hilversum shortly before the 2003 general election. Fortuyn’s LPF party was riding high in the polls at the time.

Van der Graaf will be eligible for early release in May 2014 if he completes two-thirds of his sentence without incident.