Dutch king condemns attack on leading crime reporter

Amsterdam:  The Dutch royal family has strongly condemned an attack on high-profile Dutch crime reporter Peter R de Vries, who is fighting for his life after being shot in central Amsterdam on Tuesday evening. The incident was “an attack on journalism,” King Willem-Alexander said on Wednesday in an interview broadcast by NOS. Journalism is “a cornerstone of our democracy. This is also an attack on our constitutional state,” the king said. Speaking in front of Dutch journalists, the king also expressed his compassion. “It must be horrible when this happens to a colleague.” De Vries was shot after leaving a television studio in Amsterdam and is currently in hospital with life-threatening injuries, dpa reported. Three suspects were arrested during the night, two on a nearby motorway and one in Amsterdam. The attack shocked the country and TV channels aired special reports on it. De Vries is a leading crime reporter in the Netherlands and also regularly appears as a spokesperson for victims or witnesses at trials. Currently, he is the confidant of the key witness in a major trial against organized crime. In connection with the trial, the lawyer of the state witness had already been shot in 2019.