Prosecutors seek life sentences for 3 suspects in killing of Dutch journalist Peter R. de Vries

Prosecutors have demanded life sentences for three suspects in the killing of Dutch investigative journalist Peter R

Prosecutors requested life sentences on Wednesday for three suspects in the killing of Dutch investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries and sentences of three to 21 years for six others in a trial in Amsterdam.

The life sentences were sought for the man who allegedly shot de Vries in a downtown Amsterdam street on July 6, 2021, the alleged getaway driver and a man suspected of organizing the assassination. De Vries, a popular reporter and television presenter, died nine days later of his injuries at age 64.

Prosecutors had previously asked judges to impose life sentences on the suspected killer and driver at an earlier trial that was halted in 2022 without verdicts when new evidence came to light and more suspects were arrested.

The slaying of de Vries shocked the Netherlands. 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.”

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. The witness' brother and lawyer were both murdered.

Referring to those killings, prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday that de Vries' slaying "is the third in a row of attacks on the rule of law. That cannot but weigh heavily, very heavily, in the sentence.”

Prosecutors have not charged any suspect with ordering de Vries killed.

“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 as the case opened last week.

Nine suspects are on trial at the high-security Amsterdam District Court. On the opening day, they repeatedly refused to answer questions from judges, invoking their right to silence.

Lawyers for the suspects are scheduled to address the judges in coming days. Verdicts are expected in June. The full identities of the suspects have not been released, in line with Dutch privacy rules.