Dutch journalist murder suspects also planned to kidnap PM
A Dutch criminal gang suspected of murdering a Dutch investigative journalist in 2021 also planned to kidnap the Dutch prime minister, according to a witness in the case, CNN has learned.
The protected witness, known to Dutch prosecutors only as "5089," was told by a key suspect that the gang was so powerful that "they would even kidnap the prime minister," a spokesperson for the Dutch Public Prosecution Service in Amsterdam told CNN on Friday.
Peter R. de Vries, a Dutch journalist who won numerous awards, was shot dead on a busy street in central Amsterdam in July 2021 in a case that shocked the Netherlands. The journalist was shot shortly after leaving the RTL television studios, where he frequently appeared as a criminal justice expert. He died at the hospital nine days later.
Amsterdam's Het Parool newspaper was the first to report on the witness's comments about a potential threat to the outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The witness received the information from a 28-year-old man known as "Krystian M." who is suspected of coordinating the fatal attack on de Vries and directing the other perpetrators, the prosecution service said.
The protected witness made these comments during a December 2022 interrogation by the investigating judge, according to the prosecution service. "In the investigation into the death of De Vries, the statements of this witness have only been used and further investigated when it was necessary in connection with the murder of De Vries," the prosecution service said.
De Vries was known for his investigative work that exposed the criminal underworld. He was a household name in the Netherlands, renowned for following up on unsolved cases, uncovering judicial errors, and hosting his own investigative television show for nearly two decades. The journalist also received regular death threats in connection with several cases.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
