Dutch Immigration Minister Hilbrand Nawijn, a member...

Dutch Immigration Minister Hilbrand Nawijn, a member of the anti-immigration party of murdered populist Pim Fortuyn, sparked outrage after calling for the return of the death penalty. The Netherlands has for centuries been renowned for its tolerant reputation. It abolished the death penalty under civil law in 1870 but executed many Nazi collaborators tried under military law after World War Two. Nawijn, an outspoken hardliner in Fortuyn's party, told popular weekly magazine Nieuwe Revu in an interview he was in favour of the death penalty for serious crimes but withdrew his comments after they provoked a backlash from fellow politicians. "If you deliberately take the risk to kill and actually take a life, I'm in favour of a punishment that would match (the crime) - the death penalty," he was quoted as saying. Nawijn later said in a statement he regretted making the remarks and that he had spoken as a private citizen. But Nawijn's cabinet colleagues, coalition and opposition parties were quick to condemn his remarks. Even his own party said it was not in favour of reintroducing the death penalty despite its tough stance on crime. Pim Fortuyn List, which joined a short-lived centre-right coalition after storming to second place in May's general election, is losing support ahead of a fresh ballot on January 22, opinion polls show. One poll said the party could hold just seven seats in January compared to the 26 it currently has. The new election was called after the collapse in October of the centre-right coalition of the Christian Democrats, VVD Liberals and Fortuyn's party. "I want to distance myself as emphatically and as much as possible from any suggestion that capital punishment should be reintroduced," outgoing Christian Democrat Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende told parliament. One member of the 150-seat parliament said there was no place in the Netherlands for "sharia legislation". The Netherlands is renowned for its tolerant legislation on prostitution, soft drugs and for legalising euthanasia. The Netherlands removed the right for military courts to impose the death penalty with a constitutional change in 1983.