Amsterdam, ferito gravemente Peter R. De Vries, noto per le inchieste sulla criminalità organizzata
L’uomo è stato colpito da cinque proiettili uno dei quali alla testa. Rutte: “Attacco scioccante e inconcepibile”. Sassoli: “Attacchi a reporter sono attacchi a noi”
Lotta per la vita il giornalista investigativo olandese Peter R. de Vries gravemente ferito in una strada di Amsterdam ieri sera dopo essere intervenuto in una trasmissione televisiva.
Lo scrive il Guardian precisando che l’uomo è stato colpito da cinque proiettili uno dei quali alla testa.
Il 64enne giornalista e presentatore televisivo è un personaggio noto nei Paesi Bassi per il suo ruolo in diversi casi penali. È apparso regolarmente come portavoce delle vittime o nella stretta cerchia di testimoni chiave. Intanto la polizia olandese ha reso noto di aver arrestato tre persone, tra cui ci potrebbe essere l’esecutore materiale dell’agguato.
Numerose le dichiarazioni di uomini politici ed esponenti della società civile per condannare quanto accaduto a quello che nel Paese è considerato uno dei maggiori esperti di criminalità organizzata. Il primo ministro Mark Rutte ha definito l’episodio “scioccante e inconcepibile”.
Grande sconcerto è stato espresso anche dalla famiglia reale mentre Youtube ha deciso di rimuovere dei video sull’agguato per i loro contenuti troppo raccapriccianti.
“L’attacco a Peter R. de Vries è scioccante e inconcepibile, è un attacco a un giornalista coraggioso e quindi un attacco alla libertà di stampa così essenziale per la nostra democrazia e il nostro stato di diritto”, ha dichiarato il primo ministro olandese Mark Rutte in una conferenza stampa all’Aia, dove si trova l’Agenzia nazionale per la sicurezza e l’antiterrorismo.
Geschrokken door het nieuws van de aanslag op de NLse journalist Peter de Vries. Mijn gedachten en die van het EP zijn bij hem en zijn dierbaren. De media zijn de ruggengraat van de democratie. Aanvallen op journalisten zijn aanvallen op ons allemaal. @EP_President #peterdevries pic.twitter.com/Tbv6IXVM1i
— EuropeesParlementNL (@EPinNL) July 7, 2021
Sassoli: “Attacchi a reporter sono attacchi a noi”
“Sgomento per la notizia dell’attacco al giornalista olandese Peter R. de Vries. I miei pensieri e quelli del Parlamento europeo vanno a lui e ai suoi cari”. Così il presidente del parlamento europeo David Sassoli su Twitter.”I media sono la spina dorsale della democrazia. Gli attacchi contro i giornalisti sono attacchi contro tutti noi.#peterdevries”, ha aggiunto.
Rainews, 07/07/2021
*****
Olanda: agguato in pieno centro ad Amsterdam al giornalista De Vries, è grave
Colpito alla testa da un colpo di arma da fuoco
Agguato ad Amsterdam contro il giornalista Peter R. de Vries, gravemente ferito con un colpo di arma da fuoco alla testa nel distretto di Lange Leidsedwarsstraat, in pieno centro, e ricoverato in condizioni gravi. Il giornalista aveva partecipato a un programma televisivo di cui è ospite abituale. La polizia starebbe cercando un sospetto che indossa una giacca verde scuro.
Nel 2019 De Vries aveva annunciato su Twitter di essere stato informato dalla polizia e funzionari della Giustizia di essere sulla ‘lista nera’ di un criminale latitante.
Dal 1995 al 2012 De Vries ha condotto un programma televisivo molto popolare in Olanda sulla criminalità in cui venivano seguiti casi di alto profilo. Il cronista è noto anche per il lavoro investigativo svolto in seguito al rapimento del magnate della birra, Freddy Heineken, nel 1983.
Rainews, 06/07/2021
Dutch crime reporter Peter R de Vries wounded in shooting in Amsterdam
A Dutch crime reporter who had been the target of death threats was shot and badly injured in Amsterdam on Tuesday evening.
Peter R de Vries, widely-known and praised for his investigative work on the Dutch criminal underworld, was shot in the capital as he left a television studio where he had appeared as a guest.
Police said three people were arrested – two in a car on a motorway and one in Amsterdam.
According to Amsterdam’s police chief, one of those arrested is “probably” the suspected shooter. He didn’t give further information on the arrests or a possible motive for the crime.
Dutch caretaker prime minister Mark Rutte said the shooting was “shocking and inconceivable”.
“It is an attack on a courageous journalist and therefore an attack on the freedom of the press which is so essential for our democracy and our rule of law,” he told a news conference.
Fighting for his life
The 64-year-old journalist and TV presenter is “fighting to stay alive” according to Femke Halsema, the mayor of Amsterdam.
De Vries is well-known in the country for his role in several criminal cases, having regularly appeared as a spokesman for victims or in the close circle of key witnesses.
He has received a number of death threats during his career.
Witnesses on Tuesday heard five gunshots and saw that the journalist had been shot in the head, public television NOS reported.
The caretaker prime minister and Justice and Security Minister Ferdinand Grapperhaus went to the National Security and Counter-Terrorism Agency (NCTV) in The Hague in the evening to “discuss” the case.
“This is a dark day, not only for the people close to Peter R. de Vries but also for the freedom of the press,” Grapperhaus told journalists.
“We want journalists in the Netherlands to be able to carry out any investigation that needs to be carried out in freedom. This freedom has been seriously undermined tonight,” he added.
“Journalists in the European Union must be able to investigate crime and corruption without fearing for their safety,” said the EU representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists, a US-based press freedom organisation.
The latest Reporters Without Borders press freedom index puts the Netherlands in sixth place out of 180 countries in 2021, behind Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Costa Rica.
Crime reporter Peter R. de Vries shot in Amsterdam, hospitalized in critical condition
In response to the shooting today of Dutch journalist Peter R. de Vries, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement:
“Dutch authorities should swiftly and thoroughly investigate the shooting of crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, determine if he was targeted for his work, and ensure that the attacker and the masterminds of the attack face justice,” said Tom Gibson, CPJ’s European Union representative. “Journalists in the EU must be able to investigate crime and corruption without fearing for their safety.”
At about 7:30 p.m. today in Amsterdam, an unidentified attacker fired five shots at de Vries, an independent investigative journalist and crime reporter, according to multiple news reports. The attacker then fled the scene, and the journalist was taken to a local hospital in critical condition with a gunshot wound to the head, those reports said.
The attack occurred just after de Vries appeared on the television show RTL Boulevard as a guest, according to those reports. De Vries has covered numerous high-profile criminal investigations, and previously received death threats in 2019 over his coverage of the killing of a teenager in Rotterdam, according to news reports.
At the time of the attack, he was also working as an advisor to the prosecution’s key witness in the trial of an alleged drug kingpin, which put him on a “criminal underworld hit list,” reports said.
Committee to Protect Journalists, 06/07/2021
Dutch journalist in critical condition after being shot five times
On Tuesday evening, Peter R. de Vries was a guest on daily television programme RTL Boulevard. After leaving the building, he was shot several times at close range, including in the head, in a side street of the studio. Amsterdam’s mayor Femke Halsema told a press conference that the investigative journalist was “fighting for his life.” The police have arrested three suspects.
Peter R. de Vries (64) is a well-known Dutch investigative journalist who covered high-profile criminal investigation. He worked for De Telegraaf, Panorama magazine, Algemeen Dagblad and ran his own crime programme on television. He won an international Emmy Award in 2008 for his work investigating the 2006 disappearance of teenager Natalee Holloway in Aruba.
According to media reports, De Vries has been threatened in the past and was granted police protection. In 2019, he said on Twitter that he would be on a death list. He has been acting as a counselor to a state witness testifying in the case against Ridouan Taghi, suspected of murder and drug trafficking.
The General Secretary of the Dutch Journalists’ Association (NVJ) Thomas Bruning said: “This hits journalism right in the heart. Of course, it remains to be seen what De Vries’ activities are related to, but the attack took place outside RTL Boulevard. De Vries is a fierce crimefighter, persistent and courageous. We can only hope he survives.”
EFJ President Mogens Blicher Bjerregard said: “I send my thoughts to Peter and expect an immediate investigation bringing the masterminds of this awful attack to justice. Enabling and protecting the crucial work of (investigative) journalists to deal with crime and other essential issues is key for any democracy.”
IFJ President Younes MJahed said: “We are shocked by this attack against a journalist who has reported extensively on matters of public concerns and has taken huge risks to tell the truth. This is an attack on press freedom and we urge authorities to swiftly investigate this case. Our thoughts are with Peter, his family and friends.”
The EFJ had recently alerted over the escalation of violence against media professionals with an increase in attacks since last year and repeatedly called on the Dutch authorities to do the utmost to protect journalists and investigate all attacks.
International Federation of Journalists, 07/07/2021
Peter R de Vries is vanavond in de Lange Leidsedwarsstraat neergeschoten. Hij is zwaargewond naar het ziekenhuis overgebracht. De recherche is een grootschalig onderzoek gestart. https://t.co/gr7Euq1WnK pic.twitter.com/j0m6ccu2UH
— Politie Eenheid Amsterdam (@Politie_Adam) July 6, 2021
Crime reporter Peter R. de Vries, known for his work in exposing the Dutch underworld, was shot and seriously wounded on a street in Amsterdam https://t.co/U3EdvaYWN0 pic.twitter.com/8pDGQ8iiEW
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 7, 2021
Peter de Vries, a well-known Dutch crime reporter famous for solving cold cases, is fighting for his life after being shot in the head in central Amsterdam, the police said. https://t.co/SHdIRc73Oc
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 7, 2021
Amsterdam, il giornalista Peter de Vries ferito a colpi di pistola: è grave. Era sulla “lista nera” di un latitante https://t.co/CP85HCQWe8
— Il Fatto Quotidiano (@fattoquotidiano) July 7, 2021
https://twitter.com/repubblikaMT/status/1412687164559839232?s=20
La notizia è in apertura sul sito della BBC, guardian, Le Monde che presentano innanzitutto il "crime reporter" #peterdevries raggiunto da cinque colpi di arma da fuoco https://t.co/HRvdlziNMD @luigispinola @Radio3tweet
— RAI Radio3mondo (@radio3mondo) July 7, 2021
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