Netherlands: attempted assassination of a prominent reporter

Peter de Vries, a renowned Dutch forensic reporter, was seriously wounded by gunshot in the center of Amsterdam, near Leidseplein.

The 64-year-old journalist was fired 5 bullets at the moment when he was leaving the studio of the TV channel on the evening of July 6. One of them hit the head. However, the reporter survived, he was taken to hospital in serious condition and is fighting for his life, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said during a press conference.

The police have detained three suspects. Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Netherlands, commented on the incident, calling the incident shocking and condemning the attempt on the journalist’s life. He described the attack as an attempt on media freedom.

Peter R. de Vries is known in the country and far beyond its borders in connection with the investigation of a number of high-profile criminal offenses. As reported by the NOS TV channel, the journalist is currently the confidant of the main witness at the trial against the alleged leader of the drug-dealing group. The main witness’s lawyer and his brother were shot in the street in 2019.

In 1987, a book by Peter R. de Vries was published about the high-profile kidnapping of one of the richest men in the country, Freddie Heineken, head of the Heineken brewery. And in 2008, the journalist received an Emmy Award, an international television award, for reporting on Natalie Holloway. In 2005, an American woman went missing on the island of Aruba. She is believed to be the victim of a Dutch citizen.

Involuntarily, a parallel arises with the murder of the famous Greek journalist Georgy Karaivaz, who became a victim of unknown assassins on April 9 this year. It all happened in the metropolitan municipality of Alimos, when George was returning home. Unknown persons fired at him from an ambush near the house. After the fatal shot, the criminals fled. Giorgi Karaivaz was a well-known journalist specializing in criminal investigations.

The data obtained by EL.AS employees indicate that the crime was ordered and carefully planned – the journalist’s routes of movement and his daily work schedule, as well as the escape route, which would allow the murderers to quickly escape from the crime scene, were studied. The examination showedthat the journalist received 10 bullets – 6 in the chest, 2 in the head, 1 in the neck and 1 in the palm. In addition, a control shot was fired in the head. EL.AS management. believes that the crime was ordered and planned, “professional murderers” are behind it.

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