Dutch investigative journalist shot dead in Amsterdam

The family of Peter R. de Vries, the Dutch journalist shot on June 6 in Amsterdam, announced his death on Thursday.

“He has fought to the end, but he has not been able to win this battle.

He said that on his knees he cannot be free, and he has lived according to his convictions.

We are immensely proud of him and also inconsolable ", reads the statement published by his relatives.

De Vries was 64 years old and one of the most famous investigative reporters in the Netherlands.

Specialized in reopening cases without solving by the police, in recent months it had published information provided by the prosecution witness in the largest trial against drug trafficking followed in the country.

De Vries was allegedly threatened by the Mocro Mafia, a gang of traffickers whose members are mostly Dutch of Moroccan origin, although there are also West Indian and Albanian citizens.

The investigation into the attack is open.

More information

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• A well-known Dutch journalist investigating organized crime shot in Amsterdam

The shooting that has cost the journalist his life took place around 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 6 on a busy street in the center of Amsterdam.

De Vries was working on a program on the RTL television network, which has studios in the area, and was on his way to the car to return home.

The police have already arrested two suspects: a 20-year-old, Delano G., resident of Rotterdam, and a Polish citizen, Kamil E., 35.

The agents presume that the first fired the shot and the other was driving the car in which they both tried to flee.

Peter R. de Vries began his career in 1978 as a reporter for the

newspaper

, for which he covered the 1983 kidnapping of beer businessman Alfred Heineken. In 1987 he wrote a book about it and continued to work on his own. He also had his own television program, entitled Peter R. de Vries, Crime Reporter, which ran for almost seventeen years.