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Crime scene in Amsterdam: flowers, candles and messages for Peter R. de Vries
Photo: EVA PLEVIER / REUTERS
The health of the Dutch reporter Peter R. de Vries remains extremely critical.
"Peter is still fighting for his life," said the boss of the TV station RTL, Peter van der Vorst. "We all pray for a miracle." The journalist worked for the station.
De Vries was rushed to an Amsterdam hospital on Tuesday evening with severe head injuries.
A man had fired several shots at the 64-year-old.
The Justice Department announced that security measures should be tightened to protect the rule of law.
The investigation into the attack is ongoing.
Two men were arrested just hours after the crime.
One of them, a 35-year-old Pole who lives in the south-east of the Netherlands, is said to have been arrested for a short time only last week because of threats, several media reported.
Both will be brought before the judge on Friday.
Shock and horror
But it is not yet clear who is behind the crime.
The evidence is growing that organized crime is responsible.
De Vries has been the confidante of key witness Nabil B. in a major criminal case against gang leader Ridouan Taghi, which is currently taking place in Amsterdam, since the beginning of 2020.
The journalist had been threatened several times, but had strictly refused to protect persons.
The defense attorney for the key witness had already been shot in 2019, and the innocent brother of the key witness was also killed.
The act shocked the Netherlands and also caused horror abroad.
Representatives of the EU and governments condemned the attack as an attack on the rule of law.
International journalists' associations spoke of an attack on the independence of journalism in Europe and called for unreserved clarification.
De Vries is the leading crime reporter in the Netherlands and regularly appears as a spokesperson for victims at trials.
He had also helped solve several spectacular cases.
He is a regular guest on TV talk shows.
The reporter became internationally known in 1987 with his bestseller about the kidnapping of the brewer Freddy Heineken.
In 2008 he won an Emmy Award for reporting on the case of Natalee Holloway.
The American disappeared in Aruba in 2005 and was believed to have been killed by a Dutchman.
wit / dpa