Volkert van der Graaf, jailed for 18 years in 2003 for the murder of populist politician Pim Fortuyn, will get early release from prison on May 2, junior justice minister Fred Teeven confirmed on Wednesday.

Van der Graaf will then have served two-thirds of his sentence without incident and is entitled to leave jail.

The public prosecution department says there is no reason to delay his release and that he is not suffering from any psychiatric issues. Nor is he likely to reoffend.

Conditions

A number of conditions have been attached to his release. Van der Graaf must report weekly to his probation officers and is not allowed to visit Rotterdam, Haarlem or Hilversum. He will be given an ankle monitor and banned from speaking to either Fortuyn’s relatives or the press.

These are similar to the conditions applied when other high profile prisoners are released, legal experts told the NRC.

In January it emerged Van der Graaf had been on prison leave, despite Teeven’s efforts to halt it.

Teeven was ordered by a legal appeal committee to allow Van der Graaf leave to prepare himself for life outside jail.

Threat

The minister earlier refused to allow him 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.

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.