Royce de Vries (32), the son of the murdered Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, has told his story for the first time in the Dutch media. The man looks back on his special father, who died of his injuries a week after the attack on July 15 this year. “The loss is still huge,” Royce says. “He was a loving grandfather who just loved spending time with his grandchildren.”
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“A month and a half later, the grief is still very great,” he continues. “You are lived, you have to arrange the funeral, even small things. For example, he had five newspapers, there are quickly about 100 on the mat. But you also have to make room for the sadness.”
He tells the story in his father’s office: “In the beginning it was confrontingly empty. The office he could walk into at any moment. Like he was on vacation. Now it is a kind of museum with 40 years of crime history, 40 years of my father’s work. That is also comforting.”
Scale
He tells about the day of the attack: “I was working at home and around seven thirty Peter Schouten called that my father had been shot, you are very shocked when you hear something like that. It is not yet very clear how it happened and you go to investigate. How bad is it? We started calling like crazy, then it quickly becomes clear what really happened. That it is serious, the family and partner are informed. Where is he? We heard he was in the hospital and it’s serious. Then you want to be with him. Masked agents and automatic weapons everywhere. We were in the family room and then there is still uncertainty about how he is.”
“That time is precious to us. We sat at his bedside and spent time with him that week. After a week we got the message that there was no more hope.”
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Photo: ANP
The sea of flowers that arose near the TV studio where his father was shot has given the family a lot of support, he says. “The sea of flowers has really touched us. It does a lot for you when people take the time to bring flowers, Ajax shirts or even currant buns. It’s an emotional place, even if you realize you never want to go there again.”
On the day of the attack, Peter was still at Royce’s house. “I have a picture of him still sitting on my lap with my son. That is of course a very precious picture for me.”
Critical
Royce was also critical of the crown witness system: “If it had been a sound system from the start in which lawyers could work safely, for example, in my opinion, my father would never have become a confidant of the crown witness.”
Royce also spoke about the emotional funeral in Carré, where Khalid Kasem was one of the speakers. Kasem worked with Royce at law firm De Vries en Kasem, where Peter R. also worked, but resigned when he became a confidant of crown witness Nabil B.
Royce also told about the envelope that Peter’s children had been given in case something happened to him. “Ten years walking around with your father’s wishes about practical matters such as the funeral”, which indicates that Peter was afraid that something would happen to him, it sounded.
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