Fortuyn's killer was cold and calculating, prosecutors said

Volkert van der Graaf says he killed Mr Fortuyn to protect the weak and vulnerable in society.

On the final day of his trial, prosecutors said 33-year-old Mr Van der Graaf should face the harshest sentence possible.

"No-one must ever again get it into his head to follow this example, to frustrate the democratic process in this criminal and undemocratic way," said chief prosecutor Koos Plooy.

This was a murder of freedom of speech Koos Plooy Chief prosecutor

"Such a murder is unprecedented and should never happen again. The only appropriate sentence is one of life imprisonment.

"This was a murder of freedom of speech."

Mr Van der Graaf had shown little remorse, he said, and had carried out the killing in a "cold and calculating" manner.

He could even repeat such an attack, Mr Plooy warned.

"With the rise of a new political figure in whom he sees another danger to society I estimate that the chances that (Van der Graaf) will re-offend are quite high," said Mr Plooy.

Van der Graaf could kill again, lawyers claimed

Mr Fortuyn's brother Marten, who was in court, gave a thumbs-up sign as prosecutors demanded the maximum life sentence.

Other supporters of Mr Fortuyn wept as they heard Mr Plooy retell the moments leading up to the shooting, when Mr Van der Graaf walked casually past Mr Fortuyn before turning and shooting him five times from behind at close range.

Mr Van der Graaf gunned down Mr Fortuyn as he left a radio studio in Hilversum in May, after lying in wait for him in bushes nearby.

He told the court that Mr Fortuyn's rise in popularity could be compared to that of Hitler, and Muslim immigrants and other "vulnerable" members of society were being put at risk.

He did commit the crime, but not with a morally reprehensible intention Britta Boehler Defence lawyer

Mr Van der Graaf has told the court he still "wrestles" with the question of whether he was right to carry out the attack.

"Every day I see it before me. I see myself shoot and Fortuyn fall," he told the court on Monday.

Mr Van der Graaf's lawyer urged a lesser sentence, earning loud objections from the public gallery.

"He did commit the crime, but not with a morally reprehensible intention," said Britta Boehler.

"He did not view it (the murder) as an attack on democracy, but rather saw Fortuyn as a danger to democracy."

A decision by the court's judges is expected within weeks.

'Perfectionist'

A psychiatrists' report presented to the court on Monday said Mr Van der Graaf was a highly intelligent, perfectionist who was emotionally uncommunicative and intolerant of those with different values to his own.

The report concluded that he was sane.

Mr Fortuyn's party, the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF), scored a major success in elections shortly after his death, and entered government.

However, infighting later brought the government down and the LPF lost most of its support at the election which followed.