Three suspects arrested over Dutch journalist shooting
(Update 1: adds details, three arrested)
The Hague, Jul 7 (EFE).- Dutch police Wednesday arrested three suspects, including the alleged shooter, for their alleged involvement in the shooting of crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, who is fighting for his life in a hospital in Amsterdam.
De Vries, known for his investigative work on organized crime, was shot in the head on a street in central Amsterdam Tuesday evening.
The 64-year-old was transported to hospital with serious wounds, police confirmed, adding that several shots were fired at him.
Police, who called the shooting an “attack on democracy”, are questioning the three suspects to identify who was behind the attack and whether it was linked to a specific crime investigation.
Prime minister Mark Rutte said the attack was “shocking and incomprehensible, an attack on a courageous journalist and also an attack on the free press that is so crucial to our democracy.”
King Willem-Alexander condemned the shooting, which he said had shocked him deeply.
“This is an attack on journalism, a cornerstone of our rule of law,” he told reporters.
It is still unclear who is behind the attack.
In 2019, when it became known that he was on the black list of Moroccan-born Dutch drug trafficker and Marengo organization crime boss Ridouan Taghi, who was wanted by police, De Vries was given police protection after receiving death threats.
The brother and attorney of the most important protected witness in the Marengo case, Nabil B., were shot to death in Amsterdam two years ago in a move to silence them so they would not testify in the court case against Taghi and his cohorts.EFE
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