The man who murdered gay Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn told a court March 27 that he did it for the sake of The Netherlands' Muslim population.
Fortuyn, who founded a very popular grass-roots political party, felt Muslim immigrants had not integrated into Dutch society, which is arguably the world's most liberal, and he called for an end to further Muslim immigration.
Confessed killer Volker van der Graaf, 33, told the court Fortuyn was attacking 'the weak groups in society to score points with the electorate' and 'scapegoating' Muslims.
'I could see no other option than to do what I did,' he said.
Fortuyn, who may have had enough support to become prime minister, headed the new party Pim Fortuyn's List, which snagged 26 of Parliament's 150 seats nine days after the assassination, coming in second behind the Christian Democrats who won 43 seats.
In addition to stemming immigration, the party stood for a crackdown on crime and increased attention to problem areas such as hospital waiting lists, train delays and education funding.
The List joined a three-way center-right governing coalition but infighting among List MPs prevented the three parties from working together and the cabinet disintegrated last October, becoming the shortest-lived Dutch government in 50 years.
Many media reports labeled Fortuyn a right-winger but he also was called a populist, a maverick, an independent and a libertarian.
PARTNERS OF BRIT GAY SOLDERS TO GET PENSIONS
The partners of gay British soldiers killed in the war with Iraq will be the first same-sex spouses to receive military pensions, the London Times reported March 20.
'The government is aware of the concerns of service personnel whose unmarried partners are currently ineligible for pension benefits,' said Junior Defense Minister Lewis Moonie. 'We have concluded that it would be appropriate to address now the particular risks associated with conflict.'
The surviving partner can prove the relationship existed by producing joint leases, mortgages, wills, children or other evidence of financial interdependence.
S.A. ACTIVISTS LAUNCH CIVIL-DISOBEDIENCE CAMPAIGN
South Africa's Treatment Action Campaign ( TAC ) launched a civil-disobedience campaign March 20 in hopes of forcing the government to make AIDS drugs available for the first time.
About 110 protesters marched to the Caledon Square police station and demanded that Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang and Trade Minister Alec Erwin be arrested for culpable homicide.
The police agreed to open a case against the officials then arrested the demonstrators for staging an illegal gathering. They were released with a warning to appear in court.
South Africa refuses to distribute HIV drugs saying they are toxic and that HIV may not be the cause of AIDS. One in five South African adults is HIV-positive, about 5 million people.
TAC continued its campaign on March 25, chanting, 'Manto, shut up' as Tshabalala-Msimang tried to address a public-health conference in Cape Town.
Tshabalala-Msimang and TAC Chairman Zackie Achmat got into a scuffle when Tshabalala-Msimang tried to grab a copy of a statement Achmat insisted on reading to the conferees.
Achmat eventually delivered the speech which accused Tshabalala-Msimang of having 'deceived, misrepresented, delayed and denied for too long.'
'We hope you will prove us wrong by making an unequivocal and irreversible commitment to antiretroviral therapy,' Achmat said, according to the South African Press Association.
More civil disobedience is planned in the form of sit-ins, hunger strikes and illegal importation and distribution of AIDS drugs, TAC leaders said.
POLISH GAYS ERECT BILLBOARDS
The Polish gay organization Campaign Against Homophobia has launched a billboard campaign showing same-sex couples holding hands along side the caption, 'Let them see us!'
The billboards and posters went up in several cities, but not in Warsaw and Krakow where they were banned by officials, according to Agence France-Presse.
The campaign was created by photographer Karolina Bregula who said she had a hard time finding models.
'I had the idea for the campaign after a two-year stay in Sweden,' she said. 'There homosexual couples live freely, are part of society. We want to open people's eyes— show that homosexuals live just like they do, in their midst.
'The people in the photos are mainly young people and students who are interested in changing the current situation,' Bregula said. 'Their attitudes regarding their own homosexuality gave them the ability to display it publicly despite the fact that they still risk a lot doing so.'
The campaign received funding from the federal Minister for the Equal Status of Women and Men, Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka.
'It's very good to live in a pluralistic society that respects everyone's rights, tolerates various lifestyles, religions and sexual orientations,' she said. 'Up to now, we have not yet had a public discussion on the topic of homosexuality in this society hence we're overrun with stereotypes and fears. We should get rid of our phobia of homosexuals. Poland will soon join the European Union.'
