Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Peter de Vries, who was shot last week, was "always seeking the truth and standing up for justice." Top European leaders also reiterated his commitment to justice.
Image: ANP/imago images
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Dutch investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries died on Thursday after being shot in Amsterdam last week, according to a statement from his family. The statement was published by the Dutch station he had regularly worked for, RTL.
"Peter fought to the end, but was unable to win the battle," the statement said. "Peter has lived by his conviction. On bended knee is no way to be free. We are unbelievably proud of him and at the same time inconsolable."
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called de Vries' death "almost incomprehensible." He described the journalist as "always dedicated, afraid of nothing and no one. Always seeking the truth and standing up for justice."
The mayor of Amsterdam called him a national hero, while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen she was "saddened" by his passing.
"Investigative journalists are vital to our democracies," von der Leyen said. "We must do everything we can to protect them."
Frank Überall, the chairman of the German Association of Journalists, said in a statement that journalism has lost a "committed, courageous colleague."
Why could he have been shot?
Although it remains unclear who could have wanted de Vries' dead, Michael Kerres, the diplomatic editor of Rotterdam newspaper NRC, shed some light on the attack the day after de Vries was shot.
"It happened just when Peter and police were leaving a TV studio where he had participated in a live talk show, something he does very regularly," Kerres told DW.
"He was just walking down the street toward his car when he was attacked and probably shot five times and hit in the head."
Kerres said that de Vries had received death threats for his work on a recent important drug case.
"We know that he is a personal adviser to a crown witness in what is probably the biggest drug case we have in the Dutch courts at this moment," said Kerres. "He's involved in all major crime cases in the Netherlands over the past decade so he has a lot of enemies now."
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How did de Vries become famous?
The 64-year-old reporter became a court reporter in the 1980s, going on to dive deep into the world of organized crime in the Netherlands.
He became a household name in the country due to his reporting on the kidnapping of billionaire beer magnate Freddy Heineken in 1983.
He even became an adviser to the police on the subject, showcasing his own TV show. He was seen as one of the foremost investigative journalists across Europe and the world.
The attack on de Vries has angered European leaders and press freedom advocates.
Two suspects have been arrested so far in connection to the shooting.
Violence against journalists 'in the heart of Europe'
The attack on Dutch journalist Peter R. de Vries shocked Europe. Despite the EU's seemingly good reputation with regard to press freedom, journalists sometimes become targets.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/Stringer
Amsterdam in shock
Tuesday evening in the middle of the Dutch capital, Amsterdam. Well-known crime reporter Peter R. de Vries leaves a television studio and is shot by unknown assailants. Various indications point to an organized crime syndicate being behind the attack. Two men were taken into custody several hours after the shooting.
Image: Evert Elzinga/ANP/picture alliance
One of the country's best-known crime reporters
De Vries has reported on organized crime in his country for many years. Prior to the shooting, he was working as a personal adviser to a crown witness, who is scheduled to testify against a well-known crime boss. The brother of the crown witness and his lawyer were both murdered several years ago. De Vries is fighting for his life in an Amsterdam hospital.
Image: ANP/imago images
Hope and fear
"Such a thing cannot happen in the middle of Europe!" This was the reaction that many Dutch people had following Tuesday’s shooting. A number of people have since visited the crime scene, leaving flowers and get-well wishes. Sadly, de Vries is not the first journalist to fall victim of a murder plot in the European Union.
Image: Koen Van Weel/dpa/picture alliance
Birthplace of democracy
Greek journalist Giorgos Karaivaz was murdered in southern Athens on April 9. Two masked men riding a motorcycle shot the veteran crime reporter 10 times. An experienced reporter, Karaivaz covered a number of corruption cases involving Greek bureaucrats and organized crime syndicates.
Investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia covered corruption in Malta’s political and business sphere. The 53-year-old was killed after a car bomb was detonated inside her vehicle on October 16, 2017. A man was sentenced to 15 years in prison after confessing to the crime. The accused mastermind, a well-known businessman, is currently on trial for the murder.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/L. Klimkeit
Killed in their own home
Slovak investigative journalist Jan Kuciak was shot dead along with his fiancee, Martina Kusnirova, by hired assassins on February 21, 2018. The 28-year-old focused his reporting on organized crime syndicates, tax evasion and corruption among Slovak oligarchs and politicians. Their murders shocked Europe and led to the resignation of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Image: Mikula Martin/dpa/picture alliance
'Free media!'
In 2015, Polish journalist Lukasz Masiak was beaten to death in a bowling club. Masiak had been covering corruption, illegal drug activity and arbitrary arrests. Poland's government remains in focus because of various human rights violations. Poles continue to protest the government's latest measures to undermine a free press.
Image: Attila Husejnow/SOPA Images/ZUMAPRESS.com/picture alliance
I am Charlie
In January 2015, 12 people were killed in an attack on the offices of French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo. Hundreds of thousands of people protested globally for freedom of speech and the press using the hashtag "Je suis Charlie." In November of that year, music journalist Guillaume Barreau-Decherf was murdered when terrorists attacked Paris' famous Bataclan music venue.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Turkish journalist attacked in Berlin
Berlin-based Turkish journalist Erk Acarer, a harsh critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was attacked in his apartment by three men on July 7. Writing in Turkish on Twitter, Acarer said: "I was attacked with knives and fists inside my home in Berlin." The three suspects threatened to come back if he did not stop reporting.
Image: twitter/eacarer
Reporters with borders?
It is not always the case that journalists fear for their lives. Increasingly, though, they are being prevented from doing their job — be it by angry protesters, police or security forces. In this picture, French riot police confront a member of the press during a demonstration against the country’s new security bill.
