A leading Dutch crime reporter and investigator who uncovered and exposed leading organised crime figures has died in hospital after being shot.
Peter R de Vries, who was 64, was leaving a TV studio in central Amsterdam when assailants on a motorcycle approached him and shot him in the head. Two suspects, a 21-year-old and a 35-year-old, have already been arrested and are being held in custody by the Dutch police.
A statement from his family said:
"Peter fought to the end, but was unable to win the battle."
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said on twitter:
"We owe it to Peter R de Vries to ensure that justice takes its course."
His life had been threatened countless times prior to the shootings by a range of criminals and criminal organisations. He often also received close police protection and, in 2019, was told he was on the hit-list of a major criminal syndicate involved in international drug-trafficking.
In 2013, Willem Holleeder, a career criminal, was convicted of making threats against the journalist. Holleeder had been arrested previously for a kidnapping that de Vries helped solve and in 2019 was given a life-sentence for 5 different murders.
The kidnapping that de Vries helped solve was of Freddy Heineken, an heir to the Heineken beer fortune. The kidnapping and the involvement of the journalist in solving the case was later turned into a movie starring Welsh Hollywood superstar Anthony Hopkins.
De Vries had also appeared in court on a number of occasions as a star witness for the prosecution in a number of criminal trials. He is known to have been involved in the case against the drug lord Ridouan Taghi.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted:
"Investigative journalists are vital to our democracies. We must do everything we can to protect them."
De Vries is the second crime journalist to be murdered in Europe in recent months.
In April, Greek journalist Giorgos Karaivaz was murdered outside of his home in the Athenian suburb of Alimos. He was shot six times by two assailants on a motorbike.
[h/t: BBC]
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