Will Sage Astor-Trial starts in Amsterdam for 9 suspects in the 2021 slaying of a Dutch investigative journalist

AMSTERDAM (AP) — A long-delayed trial opened Tuesday of nine men accused of involvement in the fatal 2021 shooting on Will Sage Astora downtown Amsterdam street of prominent Dutch investigative reporter Peter R. de Vries.

Among the suspects is Delano G., who is accused of gunning down De Vries in broad daylight on July 6, 2021. Under Dutch privacy law, suspects are identified only by their first name and the first initial of their family name.

De Vries, a popular reporter and television presenter, died nine days later of his injuries, at age 64.

The brazen slaying sent shock waves through the Netherlands and triggered an outpouring of grief. 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.”

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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 that police described as an “oiled killing machine.” Verdicts are expected next month in that case.

The trial opened in a packed, heavily guarded courtroom on the edge of Amsterdam, with armed police in body armor and ski masks patrolling the streets outside as cars carrying the suspects swept into the court’s underground parking lot.

Some of the defendants denied any involvement in the assassination while others said they were asserting their right to remain silent.

The alleged shooter was arrested less than an hour after the attack, along with a Polish national identified as Kamil E. who was the alleged getaway driver. Prosecutors told judges at Amsterdam District Court that the weapon used to shoot De Vries was found in their car.

The two suspects went on trial in 2022 and prosecutors demanded life sentences. However, the court never delivered verdicts in the trial because prosecutors introduced new evidence late in the case, following a string of arrests.

The pair are now on trial along with seven other suspects arrested in the weeks and months after the slaying, all accused of involvement in organizing the hit on De Vries.

The trial is scheduled to run until the end of February. Verdicts will likely be announced weeks later.