Slain Dutch politican Pim Fortuyn's personal property auctioned

The personal items used daily by murdered, flamboyant Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn are going to be auctioned off on 27 June in Nijmegen. The wealthy, anti-jihadist politician was murdered by an animal rights activist on 6 May 2002 in Hilversum.

The top Dutch auction house Hessink is taking care of the auction - which is expected to draw a great deal of interest in The Netherlands. He was slain just before the election - which politicial observers said his Fortuyn Faction would have won by an comfortable majority -- just after he had finished a radio interview in Hilversum. His convicted murderer, militant animal rights activist Volkert van der Graaf, claimed in court he had murdered Fortuyn to stop him from exploiting Muslims as "scapegoats". The auction of the contents of the Fortuyn villa in Rotterdam was announced by Hans den Hartog, one of the building's co-owners. The villa now is an insurance and advisory bureau, run by Den Hartog and his business partner Marinus van Pommeren. The two Fortuyn-supporters had tried to keep the interior intact by selling specialised insurance certificates but now say they simply cannot afford the financial expense to maintain the Fortuyn collection any longer. Co-ruling Christian-democrat MP Jan Schinkelshoek has meanwhile asked the Internal Affairs minister Guusje ter Horst to investigate whether the State could buy the entire Fortuyn collection and place it planned museum "House for Democracy' instead. The State has already budgeted 3,5-million Euro for this proposed museum. see All the contents of the villa were left exactly as Fortuyn had left it on the day he pulled his front door closed behind him for the last time, and left for the Hilversum radio studio for an interview. He was assassinated in the parking lot shortly after the interview, in broad daylight. His assassin, an animal rights activist, told the court that he had killed Fortuyn because of his 'Muslim-bashing'. Den Hartog said that the sale of the certificates - which also entitled purchasers to a tour through the villa, dropped off considerably after the start of the credit crisis, and they can't afford to keep on the village as a Pim Fortuyn museum any more. The inventory will be removed from the building and taken to the auction house in June, he said. "We want to give every supporter of Pim the opportunity to buy a personal item and that's why we decided on the auction,' he said. see Professor Fortuyn, a self-confessed homosexual, had expensive taste and enjoyed his lavish, dandy lifestyle. The house contains an extensive wine-cellar, for instance, and many items from his lavish wardrobe will be keenly sought after, especially his collection of ties and his art collection.