AMSTERDAM (CN) — Before a court in Amsterdam on Wednesday, lawyers for two defendants argued for leniency and acquittal in a trial over the murder of Dutch crime journalist Peter R. de Vries.
Prosecutors say Delano Geerman shot de Vries five times while Kamil Egiert drove the getaway car. During the trial, both men admitted to being at the scene but Geerman downplayed his role and Egiert denied knowing he was participating in a murder.
De Vries was gunned down on a busy street in the center of Amsterdam in July 2021 while walking to his car following a television appearance. He succumbed to his injuries a week later. When the trial opened last week, prosecutors played a video compilation of security camera footage showing the suspects parking their car near the murder scene and walking along the street, before de Vries is seen walking out of the studio. Five shots are audible in the recordings and then the 64-year-old crumples to the ground.
Geerman does not deny that he was the shooter, but his lawyers argued that his role in the shooting was smaller than the prosecution claimed. His counsel told the court that he only found out three hours before the shooting that he had been ordered to do so and had no idea who de Vries was.
“The Public Prosecution Service incorrectly assumes that everyone in the Netherlands watches the same TV programs,” defense lawyer Ronald van der Horst told the court Wednesday on the last day of arguments.
De Vries was a household name in the Netherlands. Prosecutors argued that his murder was connected to his involvement in the Marengo trial, a massive gangland case with 17 suspects charged with five murders. At the time of his death, de Vries was serving as a confidant for the main prosecution witness in the case. Both the brother and the lawyer of the witness have also been killed during the trial. Prosecutors argued last week that his murder was intended to terrorize anyone who was willing to oppose organized crime.
Geerman’s lawyers also argued that the 22-year-old should be judged as a juvenile. He was 21 years old when he committed the murder and under Dutch law, defendants can be charged as minors until the age of 23, depending on their mental development.
Egiert’s lawyers want their client to be acquitted entirely of the murder. According to them, he had no idea what would happen in Amsterdam and he had merely been hired to drive the car.
"If I had known for what purpose I had to bring people to Amsterdam, I would not have done that,” he told the court via an interpreter.
In court on Wednesday, de Vries’ partner, fellow journalist Tahmina Akefi, spoke about how devastating his death was.
"Time does not heal all wounds," she said. "The pain becomes part of your life, but does not diminish." Last week, de Vries’ children addressed the court as well.
De Vries rose to prominence after covering the 1983 kidnapping of Heineken heir Freddy Heineken by Willem Holleeder. The journalist was later awarded an International Emmy for his investigation into the disappearance of American teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba in 2005.
The verdict will be announced on July 14.
Follow @mollyquell
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
Sudan war marks one-year anniversary April 15, 2024 -
Hunter Biden appeals April 12, 2024
