Prosecutors seek life sentences for 3 suspects in killing of Dutch journalist Peter R. de Vries
ABC News
Prosecutors have demanded life sentences for three suspects in the killing of Dutch investigative journalist Peter R
THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- Prosecutors requested life sentences on Wednesday for three suspects in the killing of Dutch investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries and sentences of three to 21 years for six others in a trial in Amsterdam.
The life sentences were sought for the man who allegedly shot de Vries in a downtown Amsterdam street on July 6, 2021, the alleged getaway driver and a man suspected of organizing the assassination. De Vries, a popular reporter and television presenter, died nine days later of his injuries at age 64.
Prosecutors had previously asked judges to impose life sentences on the suspected killer and driver at an earlier trial that was halted in 2022 without verdicts when new evidence came to light and more suspects were arrested.
The slaying of de Vries shocked the Netherlands. Dutch King Willem-Alexander called it “an attack on journalism, the cornerstone of our constitutional state and therefore also an attack on the rule of law.”
De Vries had been an adviser and confidant for a protected witness in the trial of the alleged leader and other members of a crime gang. The witness' brother and lawyer were both murdered.
