Editing Volkert van der Graaf (section)

=== First hearing ===
The first "[[pro forma]]" hearing in his trial started on 9 August, which Van der Graaf watched on television from his cell in the [[Bijlmerbajes]] prison. The prosecution outlined its evidence, which included the finding of DNA matching Fortuyn on Van der Graaf's clothes and gun, matching of the bullets used in the attack with the gun, and eyewitnesses who pursued him continuously from the murder scene to the point of arrest. The defence complained that lack of discretion in reporting by the press and statements by public officials would make it difficult to obtain a fair trial. It requested calling as witnesses several politicians who had made public comments about the murder, including the past [[Prime Minister of the Netherlands|Prime Ministers]] [[Wim Kok]] and [[Jan Peter Balkenende]], as well as various members of [[Pim Fortuyn List|Lijst Pim Fortuyn]] including [[Mat Herben]] and [[Jim Janssen van Raaij]].

On the morning of 3 September, Van der Graaf's girlfriend was arrested at her workplace in connection with the chemicals found at their former home. Her lawyer and the lawyers of Van der Graaf denounced this as an attempt to pressure Van der Graaf into making a statement. She was released two days later and eventually cleared of any suspicion after Van der Graaf made a statement on her behalf.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/vriendin-van-der-g-niet-langer-verdacht~a624997/ | title=Vriendin Van der G. niet langer verdacht | date=13 November 2002 | newspaper=de Volkskrant | access-date=25 January 2017 | archive-date=2 February 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202052103/http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/vriendin-van-der-g-niet-langer-verdacht~a624997/ | url-status=live }}</ref>