Trial starts in Amsterdam for 9 suspects in the 2021 slaying of a Dutch investigative journalist

AMSTERDAM (AP) — Suspects accused of involvement in the fatal 2021 shooting in Amsterdam of prominent Dutch investigative reporter Peter R. de Vries repeatedly refused to answer questions from judges and lawyers as their trial opened Tuesday with judges showing video of the attack and the fatally wounded journalist.

Among the nine suspects is Delano G., who is accused of gunning down De Vries in broad daylight on July 6, 2021. Under Dutch privacy law, suspects are identified only by their first name and the first initial of their family name.

De Vries, a popular reporter and television presenter, died nine days later of his injuries, at age 64.

His slaying sent shock waves through the Netherlands and triggered an outpouring of grief. Dutch King Willem-Alexander called it “an attack on journalism, the cornerstone of our constitutional state and therefore also an attack on the rule of law.”

His son and daughter, Royce and Kelly de Vries, were in court Tuesday to watch the proceedings.

They looked away as a video was shown of their father laying on a street in Amsterdam after he was shot. Other videos showed de Vries being followed before the shooting.

The judge also read out text messages police allege were sent between suspects before and after the shooting.

One of the messages asked how many times de Vries was shot. A response read: “Four or five times. He's asleep, don't worry.”

Prosecutors allege that two of the people standing trial were involved in filming the stricken journalist and posting the images online to amplify the shock caused by the shooting.

De Vries had been an adviser and confidant for a protected witness in the trial of the alleged leader and other members of a crime gang that police described as an “oiled killing machine.” The brother and lawyer of the witness were also murdered. A verdict in that trial had been planned for next month, but further hearings will likely delay it. The key defendant is alleged gangster Ridouan Taghi, once one of the Netherlands' most-wanted fugitives until his 2019 arrest in Dubai.

Prosecutors have not charged anybody with directing de Vries' killing.

"The fact that the person who ordered the killing is not known and is not on trial here naturally hangs like a shadow over this trial,” Annemiek van Spanje, a lawyer for the family, told The Associated Press.

The trial opened Tuesday in a packed, heavily guarded courtroom on the edge of Amsterdam, with armed police in body armor and ski masks patrolling the streets outside as cars carrying the suspects swept into the court's underground parking lot.

Some of the defendants denied any involvement in the assassination while others asserted their right to remain silent. One after another, they took an oath to tell the truth in court before refusing to answer questions.

The alleged shooter was arrested less than an hour after the attack, along with a Polish national identified as Kamil E. who was the alleged getaway driver. Prosecutors told judges at Amsterdam District Court that the weapon used to shoot de Vries was found in their car.

The two suspects went on trial in 2022 and prosecutors demanded life sentences. However, the court never delivered verdicts because prosecutors introduced new evidence late in the case, following a string of arrests. The pair are now on trial along with seven other suspects arrested in the weeks and months after the slaying, all accused of involvement in planning and execution of the shooting.

The trial is scheduled to run until the end of February. Verdicts will likely be announced weeks later.