Dutch court convicts 3 men for murder of crime reporter Peter R de Vries
Al Jazeera
The 2021 killing of high-profile investigative journalist known for exposing underworld had sent the Netherlands into shock.
A court in the Netherlands has sentenced three men to up to 28 years in prison for their roles in the murder of prominent crime reporter Peter R de Vries nearly three years ago.
The man who shot de Vries on a busy Amsterdam street on July 6, 2021, and another who drove the getaway car received sentences of 28 years in prison on Wednesday. Another man who organised the slaying was sentenced to 26 years and one month. Prosecutors had sought life sentences for them.
De Vries died of his wounds nine days after being shot at age 64. The murder sent the Netherlands into shock and raised concerns about the ability of the underworld to eliminate a high-profile public figure who was considered a threat.
Dutch King Willem-Alexander called the shooting of de Vries “an attack on journalism, the cornerstone of our constitutional state and therefore also an attack on the rule of law”.
A total of nine men were charged in connection with the murder. Three of them were convicted of complicity and given sentences ranging from 10 to 14 years of imprisonment. One man was convicted of drug possession but was cleared of complicity in the murder. He was sentenced to four weeks in jail.
