Dutch court convicts 3 men of murder in 2021 fatal shooting of investigative journalist

AMSTERDAM (AP) — A Dutch court on Wednesday found three men guilty of murder for their roles in the 2021 shooting of investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries, a brazen attack in downtown Amsterdam that sparked a shockwave across the Netherlands.

The shooter, the getaway driver and the organizer of the attack were found guilty of direct involvement in the murder. The shooter and driver were sentenced to 28 years in prison. The man who organized the murder was sentenced to 26 years and one month.

The three displayed “unprecedented cruelty and unscrupulousness.” Their actions and the recklessness they showed demonstrate that they do not care about human life,” said the presiding judge of the Amsterdam District Court, Gert Oldekamp.

De Vries was shot dead on July 5, 2021 on a busy Amsterdam street and died nine days later from his injuries at age 64.

A total of nine men have been charged over the murder. Three were found guilty of complicity and sentenced to terms ranging from 10 to 14 years. A man was convicted of drug possession but was cleared of complicity in the murder. He was sentenced to four weeks.

Two of them were acquitted because they were accused only of involvement in a criminal organization, and judges said prosecutors had not proven the existence of such an organization.

The full names of the suspects have not been released, in accordance with Dutch confidentiality regulations.

Prosecutors had sought life sentences for the shooter, the getaway driver and the organizer of the murder.

In January, prosecutors sought sentences ranging from three to 21 years for the other six suspects in the case.

The sentences were generally shorter than those requested because the court said prosecutors had not proven that the suspects were part of a criminal organization or that some had acted with terrorist intent.

This murder sparked outrage, grief and anger throughout the Netherlands. Dutch King Willem-Alexander called De Vries' assassination “an attack on journalism, the cornerstone of our rule of law, and therefore also an attack on the rule of law.”

Oldekamp said the killing “sent shockwaves through the Netherlands.”

De Vries had been an advisor and confidant to a protected witness during the trial of the alleged leader and other members of a criminal gang. The witness's brother and lawyer were both murdered.

The best gangster in the group, Ridouan Taghi, was convicted for his role in five gang murders and sentenced to life behind bars in February. The judges called him the “undisputed leader” of a “murderous organization.”

Taghi has not been charged with involvement in de Vries' assassination and prosecutors have not charged any suspects with ordering de Vries' assassination.

“The question of whether Taghi was involved in the murder of Peter de Vries and what his intentions were is expressly not to be assessed in this criminal case,” Oldekamp said.

Earlier this year, Annemiek van Spanje, lawyer for the de Vries family, lamented the fact that no suspects were on trial for ordering the killing.

“The fact that the person who ordered the murder is not known and is not being tried here naturally weighs like a shadow over this trial,” she told The Associated Press.

The suspected shooter was arrested less than an hour after the attack, along with a Pole identified only as Kamil E., who was the suspected getaway driver. Prosecutors told judges at Amsterdam District Court that the gun used to shoot De Vries was found in their car.

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This story corrects that three people, not four, were found guilty of complicity.