Crime and crime journalist Peter de Vries was shot while leaving a television studio in central Amsterdam on Tuesday night. The 64-year-old was shot in the head and has since fought for his life in hospital.

Two men were arrested shortly after the attempted murder, and on Friday they were remanded in custody for two weeks. One of them, a 21-year-old Dutchman, is suspected of shooting the 64-year-old, while a 35-year-old Polish man living in the Netherlands is suspected of driving.

Family members of the 21-year-old told the Dutch newspaper de telegraph That he was promised 150,000 euros, more than 1.5 million crowns, by a criminal gang to kill de Vries.

– There must be an end to this, it cannot continue. A family member told the newspaper that lives had been lost.

drugs

The motive behind the attack on de Vries is unknown, but he recently served as a counsel to the prosecution witness in the case against alleged drug lord Ridouane Taghi.

Morocco-born Taghe, who has long been the Netherlands’ most wanted man, was arrested in Dubai in December 2019 and extradited to the Netherlands a few days later.

More murders

Taqi is now on trial for ordering multiple murders and attempted murder.

The lawyer for the star witness, Derek Wiersom, was shot dead outside his home in September 2019 after repeatedly pleading for better protection for himself and his client.

The witness’s brother was killed when the prosecutor’s witness in the Taghi case became known.

Correction: In an earlier version of the case, VG passed the NTB text “Two men arrested shortly after murder”. However, this is not true. The truth is: two men were arrested shortly after the attempted murder. The bug was fixed on 12.07.21 at 12.25.