Two new suspects, both Dutch, have been arrested in the investigation into the 2021 murder of a famous Dutch journalist, Peter Rudolf de Vries, the prosecution announced on Tuesday (July 5th), bringing the number of suspects to five detained in this case.
A 27-year-old man was arrested on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao and a second man, 26, was apprehended in Spain.
The man arrested in Curaçao "
will soon be transferred to the Netherlands and at the same time the Dutch authorities have asked Spain for the extradition of the suspect arrested in Spain, which could take a few weeks
", the prosecution said in a press release. .
The prosecution did not provide any other details but, according to Dutch media, the men filmed the attack on Peter R. de Vries, shot dead in broad daylight in the center of Amsterdam.
Verdict on July 14
On Monday, the prosecution announced the arrest of another suspect as part of the investigation into the sponsors of the assassination, a 27-year-old Pole.
The latter, “
suspected of having led those who murdered De Vries
” according to the prosecution, is, according to Dutch media, already in detention for a murder committed in October.
The trial of the first two suspects in the assassination of Peter R. de Vries, currently underway, began in June.
Delano G., a 22-year-old Dutchman, is accused of having shot the victim, and Kamil E., a 36-year-old Pole, of having driven the car used to flee and carrying out a reconnaissance operation on the scene before the crime.
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The verdict in this trial is expected on July 14.
The prosecution requested life imprisonment for the two men who denied any involvement in the shooting and refused to testify in court.
Justice suspects a drug lord
Peter R. de Vries, 64, died nine days after being shot on July 6, 2021, including one in the head, as he left a television studio after being invited to a program, a assassination that justice suspects could have been ordered by a drug baron.
His death had shocked the Netherlands and prompted condemnations across Europe.
The journalist, who became known for his work on the 1983 kidnapping of millionaire Freddy Heineken, was close to a key witness for justice in a major drug case.
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He had been since 2020 the adviser and confidant of Nabil B., the main witness for the prosecution in the trial of drug baron Ridouan Taghi, qualified before his arrest in 2019 in Dubai as the most wanted criminal in the Netherlands.
Taghi notably faces murder charges.
Nabil B.'s brother and lawyer had both been shot dead after he became a prosecution witness.