Berlin, June 13, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the decision by a Dutch court to convict three men for the assassination of veteran crime reporter Peter R. de Vries in 2021 and calls for full justice to be delivered.
“We welcome the Dutch court’s conviction of three perpetrators for the murder of crime reporter Peter de Vries in 2021,” Attila Mong, CPJ’s Europe representative in Berlin, said on Thursday. “While the verdict is an important step towards ending impunity in this case, Dutch authorities should keep up their efforts to ensure real justice is achieved by identifying those who ordered the murder and pursuing their prosecution.”
On June 12, a court in the capital Amsterdam sentenced three men for their involvement in the shooting of de Vries — shooter Delano G. and getaway driver Kamil E. were each given 28 years in prison, while the organizer of the attack, Krystian M., received a sentence of more than 26 years. Full names of suspects were not released to comply with Dutch privacy regulations.
Three other unidentified men were convicted of complicity in the murder, receiving sentences ranging from 10 to 14 years.
It was unclear at the time of publication whether the convicted men would appeal the verdict.
De Vries was gunned down on July 6, 2021, outside a television studio in Amsterdam, where he had just finished appearing on a talk show, and died nine days later in the hospital. Authorities believe he was targeted for his role as an adviser and spokesperson for a witness in the trial of a drug kingpin rather than for his reporting. The witness’s brother and lawyer were both murdered.
CPJ’s emails requesting comment from the Dutch Public Prosecution Service and the de Vries family did not receive any replies.