Peter R. DE VRIES
Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries died on 15 July 2021 from injuries sustained in a shooting in Amsterdam nine days earlier. De Vries was shot five times, including in the head, while on his way to a car park after leaving the studio of RTL Boulevard, on which he appeared as a guest. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, condemned the killing, stating on 15 July 2021 that ‘investigative journalists are vital to our democracies. We must do everything we can to protect them’.
Two suspects were arrested soon after the shooting; their trial opened in Amsterdam in June 2022. Prosecutors called for life sentences against them, but a verdict was postponed after new information emerged that judges said needed to be added to the case. Seven other suspects were subsequently arrested in the investigation. All nine men went on trial in Amsterdam in January 2024. On 12 June 2024, the court sentenced Delano G., the man who shot de Vries, and getaway driver Kamil E. to 28 years in prison. Krystian M., who organised the killing, was sentenced to 26 years and one month in prison. Three men were convicted of complicity in the murder and given sentences ranging from 10 to 14 years of imprisonment. One man was convicted of drug possession and sentenced to four weeks in jail. Two were acquitted over lack of evidence regarding their involvement in a criminal organisation. The full names were not released in line with Dutch privacy regulations. The Public Prosecution Service subsequently filed an appeal, calling for harsher sentences to be handed over to all nine men. The case was ongoing as of 31 December 2024.
Peter R. de Vries, born on 14 November 1956, was a well-respected investigative journalist and crime reporter, who won critical acclaim for his reporting on the Dutch underworld. He notably worked for De Telegraaf and had his own television crime programme: Peter R. de Vries, misdaadverslaggever (Crime Reporter). He is the author of Kidnapping Mr. Heineken, an international bestseller. Before he was killed, de Vries had acted as an adviser to the key prosecution witness against alleged drug kingpin Ridouan Taghi. Derk Wiersum, the lawyer of a state witness in the case, was shot dead in Amsterdam in 2019.