WILLEMSTAD, Curaçao (AP) — A man arrested in Curaçao on suspicion of involvement in a criminal gang linked to the murder of Dutch journalist Peter R. de Vries arrived in The Netherlands on Tuesday to face justice, prosecutors said.
The national prosecutor’s office said in a statement that the man, whose identity was not released, played a “leading role” in a criminal gang that is thought to be behind the brazen shooting of De Vries on July 6, 2021, on a busy Amsterdam street. The popular pioneering journalist died nine days later of his injuries, aged 64.
The suspect, who has been incarcerated in Curaçao, a former Dutch colony, since 2014, was arrested on Monday, prosecutors said in a statement. No detail was given why he was in a detention center on the Caribbean island.
He is scheduled to appear before a magistrate in Amsterdam, prosecution spokesperson Brechtje van de Moosdijk told The Associated Press.
The man is the latest suspect detained in the investigation into the killing of De Vries. An Amsterdam court convicted three men in June 2024 of murder for their roles in the shooting that sent a shockwave through the country. Three others were convicted of complicity in the murder.
By MIKE CORDER/Associated Press
