THE HAGUE, 05/11/05 - MP Eerdmans wants minimum jail sentences for murder and manslaughter. He presented his own research Friday, which he said shows the present sentences are "way below standard."

People sentenced for murder in the Netherlands on average effectively remain in prison for 6 years. For manslaughter, this is only 3.3 years, according to Eerdmans. If it were up to him, people would go to jail for at least 15 years for murder and 10 years for manslaughter. Eerdmans is working on a private members bill to ensure the convicted would get no automatic early release or weekend leave any more.

Eerdmans surveyed all murder and manslaughter cases in the past 2.5 years in which the perpetrator had a single victim and committed no other serious crime. For murder, the perpetrators were on average given 10.4 years in jail and for manslaughter, 6.5 years. The automatic early release system knocks one-third off these periods, and Eerdmans also deducted the time that the prisoners were allowed to spend on weekend leave from the sentence.

The MP, who won the Thorbecke Prize for eloquence this year, is no longer a member of the Pim Fortuyn List (LPF) party, but does still operate as a LPF MP. He is believed to be working behind the scenes on a new party with independent MP Geert Wilders.