Well-known Dutch journalist de Vries dies, succumbed to last week’s gunshot wound – ČT24 – Czech Television

“Peter fought to the end, but he was not able to win this battle,” the family said in a statement, according to Dutch television RTL. “Peter lived by his conviction: If one kneels, one cannot be free. We are incredibly proud of him and at the same time we are desperate for grief, “the message continues.

From the moment he was shot, the 64-year-old de Vries was in critical condition at the hospital. Journalists were shot dead on a street in the center of Amsterdam on July 6 as he left the television studio and approached the entrance to the underground garage. One of the bullets hit him in the head.

Celebrita a expert

According to Reuters, De Vries was a celebrity in the Netherlands, often appeared on television and was considered an expert with resources among criminals and law enforcement. He became famous for investigating the circumstances of the 1983 abduction of beer mogul Freddy Heineken, and the kidnapper Willem Holledeer was convicted in 2013 of threats against the investigative journalist.

De Vries again received an international Emmy Award for his work on the case of the disappearance of American Natalee Holloway on the island of Aruba in 2008. In his television shows, he worked with the families of the victims and tirelessly dealt with unresolved cases.

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On Thursday, people placed flowers, candles and messages with words of support on the sidewalk that de Vries collapsed last week when he was hit. Hundreds of people arrived at the scene. Twenty-year-old Verena Postma, who was among those who came to pay tribute to the reporter, said that de Vries himself would not call himself a hero. “He stood firmly on the ground. He fought never to succumb to crime or threats, “AFP quoted her as saying.

Police detained two men shortly after the incident. The 21-year-old Dutchman from Rotterdam, who is referred to by the local media as Delan G., is suspected as a shooter, and the 35-year-old Pole, who appears in the media under the name Kamil E., drove a vehicle in which the men tried to pass, according to investigators.

“It’s an attack on journalism”

The attack on de Vries caused outrage both in the Netherlands and in a number of other European countries. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte wrote on Twitter that the death of a journalist had hit him hard and that he was almost incomprehensible to him.

“It is an attack on journalism, the cornerstone of our rule of law,” said King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands. “And as such, it is an attack on our constitutional order,” he added.