The crime shocked the Netherlands: In the summer of 2021, reporter de Vries was shot dead in the street in Amsterdam. Now several defendants have been given long prison sentences. They are said to have been part of a drug gang.
The Amsterdam criminal court has found three men guilty of the murder of Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries and sentenced them to long prison terms of up to 28 years. Almost three years after the murder in Amsterdam, the judges also sentenced four other defendants to prison terms of up to 14 years for aiding and abetting the murder of the prominent reporter. Two defendants were acquitted. They had only been charged with participation in a criminal organization. According to the court, the public prosecutor’s office was unable to prove the existence of such a criminal organization.
For the judges, however, the guilt of the three main defendants was proven beyond doubt. They had no respect for human life, said the judges in the heavily guarded high-security court in Amsterdam.
Public prosecutor demanded lifelong
The public prosecutor had demanded life imprisonment. The prominent TV reporter de Vries was gunned down in the middle of Amsterdam in the summer of 2021. He died of his injuries nine days after the attack at the age of 64. Two main suspects were arrested immediately after the crime. They were the shooter Delano G. (24) and the driver of the getaway car, Kamil E. (38). Both have now been sentenced to 28 years in prison. The third main perpetrator, Krystian M. (29), is considered a “murder broker”. He was sentenced to 26 years in prison. Only he had admitted complicity and apologized to the victim’s relatives. The defendants had also invoked their right to remain silent and refused to testify. They, like the prosecution, can appeal the verdicts.
Drug gang was probably behind the murder
According to the prosecution, the drug gang of the notorious criminal Ridouan Taghi was responsible for the murder. De Vries had mainly reported on drug trafficking. He was an advisor and confidant of the key witness who had testified in a major criminal trial against Taghi and his accomplices. The key witness’ brother and defense attorney had already been murdered. But there is no evidence that the Taghi gang was responsible. Taghi was sentenced to life imprisonment in February, but for other murders. He was not charged in connection with the murder of de Vries.
The murder sparked outrage, grief and anger in the Netherlands. King Willem-Alexander spoke of “an attack on journalism, the cornerstone of our constitutional state, and thus also an attack on the rule of law.”