- The suspects accused of involvement in the 2021 shooting death of prominent Dutch investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries in Amsterdam refused to answer questions as the trial began.
- Delano G. is accused of fatally shooting De Vries in broad daylight on July 6, 2021.
- De Vries, a popular reporter and television presenter, died nine days later at the age of 64.
Suspects accused of involvement in the 2021 shooting death of prominent Dutch investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries in Amsterdam answer questions from judges and lawyers as their trial begins on Tuesday. He repeatedly refused.
The nine suspects include Delano G., who is accused of shooting and killing De Vries in broad daylight on July 6, 2021. Under Dutch privacy laws, suspects can only be identified by their first and last initials.
De Vries, a popular reporter and television presenter, died from his injuries nine days later at the age of 64. His son and his daughter were in court Tuesday to watch the proceedings.
Dutch crime reporter De Vries dies after being shot in Amsterdam
The killing shocked the whole of the Netherlands and caused an outpouring of grief. Dutch King Willem-Alexander called it “an attack on journalism, which is the basis of our constitutional state, and therefore on the rule of law.”
Dutch crime reporter Pieter R. de Vries looks on before attending a live television show in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on January 31, 2008. On January 23, 2024, a long-delayed trial opened for the nine men accused of involvement in the incident. The shooting death of Dutch investigative reporter De Vries on the streets of downtown Amsterdam. (AP Photo/Peter DeJong, File)
De Vries was an adviser and confidant to a protected witness in the trial of the alleged leader and other members of a criminal organization described by police as a “well-oiled killing machine”. The witness' brother and lawyer were also killed. A verdict in the case was scheduled for next month, but is likely to be postponed pending further hearings. The main defendant is gangster Ridouan Taghi, who was once one of the Netherlands' most wanted fugitives before his arrest in Dubai in 2019.
The De Vries shooting trial opened Tuesday in a heavily guarded court on the outskirts of Amsterdam, with armed police in bulletproof vests and ski masks as cars carrying the suspects piled into the court's underground parking lot. They patrolled the streets outside.
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Some of the defendants denied involvement in the assassination, while others asserted their right to remain silent. One after another, they swore to tell the truth in court before refusing to answer questions. The judges played security camera footage taken about two weeks before the shooting. It showed a man who was shot dead after police tailed him on the road as a getaway driver.
The alleged gunman was arrested less than an hour after the attack, and the alleged getaway driver, Polish national Kamil E., was also arrested. Prosecutors told a judge at the Amsterdam District Court that the weapon used to shoot Ms de Vries was found in the car.
The two suspects will go on trial in 2022, with prosecutors seeking life in prison. However, the court never issued a ruling because prosecutors introduced new evidence late in the case following a series of arrests. The two men are currently on trial along with seven other suspects arrested in the weeks and months after the killing, all charged with involvement in the shooting plot.
The trial is scheduled to run until the end of February. A verdict will likely be announced in the coming weeks.
