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Wednesday, March 27, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Famous Dutch Journalist ‘Fighting for His Life’ After Shooting

The attack has raised questions about the safety and the freedom of the press in the Netherlands.

AMSTERDAM (CN) — The Netherlands' most famous journalist is fighting for his life after being shot repeatedly Tuesday evening. Authorities intend to arraign two of three suspects taken into custody.

Peter R. de Vries, widely known for his coverage of the 1983 kidnapping of the heir to the Heineken fortune, was shot multiple times at close range while walking to his car following a Tuesday television appearance. 

That night and into this morning, police raided homes in Tiel, Maurik and Rotterdam where they seized laptops and phones along with drugs and weapons. 

Three men suspected of involvement were apprehended, but one was quickly cleared of any connection to the crime and released. Police say there will be an arraignment Friday for the other two: a 21-year-old Dutchman from Rotterdam and a 35-year-old Polish man from Maurik. Neither man has been named.

People lay flowers on Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in the city center of Amsterdam where journalist Peter R. de Vries was shot multiple times the previous night. (Molly Quell photo/Courthouse News)

De Vries, 64, is a Dutch celebrity and won an Emmy in 2008 for his work on the disappearance of Natalee Holloway during an Aruban vacation. 

“He is a national hero to us all. A rare, courageous journalist who tirelessly sought justice,” Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said in a Tuesday night press conference. Dozens have laid flowers where he was shot in the city center of Amsterdam.

De Vries had been involved in the ongoing Marengo process, a legal proceeding involving 17 people charged with six murders and four attempted murders as part of a criminal operation. He has been acting as an advisor to a state’s witness in the case, Nabil Bakkali. 

It is still not known what the motivation was for the attack. Bakkali’s brother, Reduan Bakkali, was shot and killed in a gruesome attack at the marketing company where he worked, only weeks after it was announced that Nabil Bakkali would testify against accused drug kingpin Ridouan Taghi. In 2019, the witness's own lawyer was gunned down in broad daylight in Amsterdam. De Vries had turned down police protection because he said it would interfere with his work. 

Caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Caretaker Justice Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus met on Tuesday evening to discuss the attack. “It’s an attack on a courageous journalist and by extension, an attack on the freedom of the press, which is so essential for our democracy and rule of law,” Rutte told journalists following the meeting. 

“Yesterday our worst nightmare became reality. We as a family surround Peter with love and hope during this difficult phase. Much is still uncertain, but what is certain is that all expressions of support from all over the country now offer enormous support,” de Vries’ son, Royce, wrote on Twitter. 

The shooting has been widely condemned.

The Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, interrupted a three-day official visit to Germany, to make a statement. “Peter de Vries was, of course, a special journalist and this was an attack on journalism, the cornerstone of our constitutional state and therefore also an attack on the rule of law,” the monarch said.

European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke out as well: “I call on the national authorities to clarify the situation and bring the perpetrators to justice."

It is the latest in a series of attacks on journalists across Europe. In 2017, Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb outside her home, following her reporting on corruption amongst Maltese politicians. In 2018, Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak was murdered in his home after reporting on tax fraud committed by prominent Slovakian business people and politicians. 

De Vries was taken to an Amsterdam hospital where Mayor Halsema said he is “fighting for his life.” 


Follow Molly Quell on Twitter.

Follow @mollyquell
Categories / Criminal, International, Media

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