Peter R. de Vries
Encyclopedia
Peter Rudolf de Vries is a Dutch
Investigative Journalist
and crime
reporter. His television
program covers high profile cases and set a Dutch television viewing record. In 2005, he started his own political party
which was disbanded soon after.
in the Netherlands
. He went to primary school in Amstelveen
and to secondary school in Amsterdam
. From 1976 to 1977 he was in military service
, where he had the rank
of sergeant
.
In 1978, he became a journalist
for the daily newspaper De Telegraaf
in The Hague
and later in Amsterdam
. He gradually moved from general journalism to crime and he reported about major criminal cases in the Netherlands. In 1987, he resigned from De Telegraaf and became chief editor of the weekly magazine Aktueel, which he transformed into a crime magazine.
-kidnapper Frans Meijer in Paraguay
, investigated the Putten murder of Christel Ambrosius, and revealed that Mabel Wisse Smit
knew the drug lord Klaas Bruinsma
better than she had previously admitted. Another important issue in his show was a found floppy-disk. This disk contained detailed information from AIVD research, the Dutch
secret service. It turned out that the service observed the murdered politician Pim Fortuyn
; the service thought that he had sexual relations with Moroccan men.
and detained for several hours in Tilburg
when he tried to confront a police officer with allegations about questionable actions concerning the inheritances of elderly women. He was charged with one count of trespassing. The case was dropped in January 2007 "in view of the final results of the persistent search for the truth and the results of the disciplinary inquest" into the behavior of the police officer in question.
of U.S. president John F. Kennedy
. In what has been De Vries' longest show to date, he spent two weeks in Texas speaking with former CIA
and FBI
agents and the ex-girlfriend of Lee Harvey Oswald
. One of the interview subjects, James Files
, said he was the gunman responsible for taking Kennedy's life. Files contradicted the findings of the Warren Commission
and claimed that the CIA and the mafia
were involved in the assassination.
, one of the prime suspects in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway
, of her disappearance in Aruba
.
On 11 January 2008, van der Sloot threw a glass of red wine into De Vries' face right after a live broadcast of the Dutch talk show "Pauw & Witteman
" on which De Vries and Van der Sloot (with his parents) had been guests. The wine got into De Vries' eyes and briefly it seemed to have caused him a considerable amount of pain. During the tense but peaceful conversation during the broadcast, De Vries had on several accounts challenged Van der Sloot's integrity.
On 31 January 2008, De Vries said to the media that he knew what had happened in the case of Natalee Holloway. He shared his findings with the police, stating that he would publicly show this new-found evidence in a special episode of his television program. On February 3, 2008, the undercover video aired on Dutch television showing Van der Sloot purportedly smoking marijuana and admitting to being present during Holloway's death. The show was watched by 7 million viewers in the Netherlands and was the most popular non-sports program in Dutch television history. Patrick van der Eem
, working undercover for De Vries, had befriended Van der Sloot, who was unaware that he was being taped when he said that Holloway had suffered some kind of seizure while having sex on the beach. After failing to revive her, he said that he summoned a friend named Daury, who loaded her on a boat and dumped her body into the sea. The prosecutor in Aruba determined the video was admissible, but the evidence was deemed insufficient to warrant re-arrest. Although the taped confession appeared damning, Van der Sloot argued that he was lying to impress Van der Eem, whom he believed was a drug dealer. Van der Eem said that ABC paid US$830,000 to secure the rights to broadcast the program in the United States
.
De Vries wrote the introduction to the June 2008 book Overboord: hoe ik Joran van der Sloot aan het praten kreeg (Overboard: how I got Joran van der Sloot to talk) in which Van der Eem recounts his experience with Van der Sloot with transcripts of the undercover video. On September 22, 2008 in New York, De Vries accepted an International Emmy Award in Current Affairs for his coverage while accompanied by Natalee's mother Beth Holloway
.
women in Bangkok
. De Vries claimed that Van der Sloot was making $13,000 for every woman sold into prostitution in the Netherlands. Van der Sloot used the alias of "Murphy Jenkins" to avoid Thai authorities. Peruvian Minister of Justice
Aurelio Pastor
said that Thailand is pursuing criminal charges against Van der Sloot. According to The National Enquirer
, he is being investigated for his involvement in the disappearance of young women he may have recruited for a Thai sex slave gang while posing as a production consultant for a modeling agency
that would send them to Europe.
in an attempt to interview dive instructor Daniel Ian Ross, who is being sought through Interpol
for the August 2008 death of 23-year-old Dutch tourist Mariska Esmeralde Mast at the Honduran
island of Roatán
. Ross was initially arrested and released after surrendering his British
passport with instructions not to leave the island. Ross, who has dual citizenship, then used his Australian passport to leave the island. Ross denied responsibility for the death through his lawyers in Australia
, which does not have an extradition
treaty with Honduras. An autopsy report stated that Mast died of blunt force injuries
and asphyxia
tion resulting from strangulation
. His flatmate Jisoo Han
, who helped take Mast to the hospital, was later arrested and is under house arrest
in Honduras. Han publicly appealed to Ross to come forward and exonerate her. Ross called the police when De Vries attempted to contact him at his home on August 19. De Vries was arrested and paid a $200 fine for disobeying a police order to move on. On September 6, Perth
magistrate
Giuseppe Cicchini rejected an application by Ross for a restraining order
against De Vries, who had by then left the country. De Vries criticized the Western Australia Police
for arresting him, stating: "I didn't touch him, I didn't insult him, I didn't threaten him... This is a homicide case and I tracked him down and now you're putting me in jail. That's the world upside down."
, Peru
with his television crew and Beth Holloway
to visit Miguel Castro Castro prison where Joran van der Sloot was being held while awaiting trial for the murder and robbery of Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramírez. According to Van der Sloot's attorney Maximo Alonso Altez Navarro, his client was taken to meet them "practically by force." Altez Navarro stated that the meeting with Holloway took "less than one minute," with Van der Sloot saying that he could not speak to her without his lawyer present and handing her his business card. Altez Navarro claimed that Holloway was "snuck" into the prison without being identified by the media crew who she was with. A prison spokesperson stated that Holloway's name was not found in the visitor registry. The group was removed from the prison, reportedly after a hidden camera
was discovered by the guards. Representatives for Holloway and De Vries denied that a hidden camera was involved nor was anything seized. Colonel Abel Gamarra of the National Police of Peru
stated that no arrests had been made. While in Peru, Holloway spoke with Flores Ramírez's brother Enrique on camera. On September 17, De Vries and the group left Peru for Panama
and arrived in Aruba on the same day. He spent a few days in Aruba working with Holloway on a documentary
about her missing daughter to be run on Dutch television, reportedly with the cooperation of prosecutors who had been investigating Van der Sloot.
(P.R.D.V. or Party for Justice, Action and Progress). On October 31, he presented his plans that mainly focused on changing the existing political culture in the Netherlands. To prove his point, he stated that an opinion poll on 16 December would decide whether he would actually continue his party or not, with a 41% cut-off point. Since only 31.4% thought De Vries would be a gain for Dutch politics, he decided to disband the party.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Investigative Journalist
Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...
and crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
reporter. His television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
program covers high profile cases and set a Dutch television viewing record. In 2005, he started his own political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
which was disbanded soon after.
Early life and career
Peter Rudolf de Vries was born on 14 November 1956 in AalsmeerAalsmeer
Aalsmeer is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Its name is derived from the Dutch for eel and lake . Aalsmeer is bordered by the Westeinderplassen lake, the largest open water of the Randstad, and the Ringvaart Canal...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. He went to primary school in Amstelveen
Amstelveen
' is a suburban municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is part of the metropolitan area of Amsterdam. The municipality of Amstelveen consists of the following villages and/or districts: Amstelveen, Bovenkerk, Westwijk, Bankras-Kostverloren, Groenelaan, Waardhuizen,...
and to secondary school in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. From 1976 to 1977 he was in military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
, where he had the rank
Military rank
Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines. Usually, uniforms denote the bearer's rank by particular insignia affixed to the uniforms...
of sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
.
In 1978, he became a journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
for the daily newspaper De Telegraaf
De Telegraaf
De Telegraaf is the largest Dutch daily morning newspaper, with a daily circulation of approximately . De Telegraaf is based in Amsterdam...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
and later in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. He gradually moved from general journalism to crime and he reported about major criminal cases in the Netherlands. In 1987, he resigned from De Telegraaf and became chief editor of the weekly magazine Aktueel, which he transformed into a crime magazine.
Investigative journalism
Since 1991, de Vries has been an independent crime journalist. In 2005, De Vries tracked down the HeinekenFreddy Heineken
Alfred Henry Heineken was a Dutch major stock holder and president of Heineken International, the brewing company bought in 1864 by his grandfather Gerard Adriaan Heineken in Amsterdam....
-kidnapper Frans Meijer in Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, investigated the Putten murder of Christel Ambrosius, and revealed that Mabel Wisse Smit
Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau
Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau is the wife of Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau ....
knew the drug lord Klaas Bruinsma
Klaas Bruinsma (drug lord)
Klaas Bruinsma was a major Dutch drug lord, shot to death by mafia member and former police officer Martin Hoogland...
better than she had previously admitted. Another important issue in his show was a found floppy-disk. This disk contained detailed information from AIVD research, the Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
secret service. It turned out that the service observed the murdered politician Pim Fortuyn
Pim Fortuyn
Wilhelmus Simon Petrus Fortuijn, known as Pim Fortuyn was a Dutch politician, civil servant, sociologist, author and professor who formed his own party, Pim Fortuyn List ....
; the service thought that he had sexual relations with Moroccan men.
Police corruption investigation
On 13 September 2006, De Vries was arrested in OisterwijkOisterwijk
- The city of Oisterwijk :Oisterwijk received city rights in 1230. Part of the municipality of Oisterwijk includes the 'Oisterwijkse bossen en vennen' and the 'Kampina'. Both are nature reserves of outstanding natural beauty. The reserves are owned and kept by the 'Vereniging Natuurmonumenten'...
and detained for several hours in Tilburg
Tilburg
Tilburg is a landlocked municipality and a city in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of Noord-Brabant.Tilburg municipality also includes the villages of Berkel-Enschot and Udenhout....
when he tried to confront a police officer with allegations about questionable actions concerning the inheritances of elderly women. He was charged with one count of trespassing. The case was dropped in January 2007 "in view of the final results of the persistent search for the truth and the results of the disciplinary inquest" into the behavior of the police officer in question.
Kennedy investigation
In the first half of 2006, De Vries and Wim Dankbaar produced a two and a half hour special about the 1963 assassinationAssassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
of U.S. president John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. In what has been De Vries' longest show to date, he spent two weeks in Texas speaking with former CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
and FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
agents and the ex-girlfriend of Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
. One of the interview subjects, James Files
James Files
James Earl Files is allegedly a former Central Intelligence Agency/Mafia hit man who claims to have been the grassy knoll shooter in Dealey Plaza on the morning of the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.-Background:...
, said he was the gunman responsible for taking Kennedy's life. Files contradicted the findings of the Warren Commission
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 27, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
and claimed that the CIA and the mafia
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
were involved in the assassination.
Natalee Holloway disappearance
In November 2006, a program by De Vries was broadcast in which he accused Joran van der SlootJoran van der Sloot
Joran Andreas Petrus van der Sloot is a Dutch national who lived in Aruba. He has been indicted by a federal grand jury in the United States for wire fraud and extortion related to the whereabouts of Natalee Holloway, who disappeared in Aruba on May 30, 2005, and is charged in Peru with the...
, one of the prime suspects in the disappearance of Natalee Holloway
Natalee Holloway
Natalee Ann Holloway disappeared on May 30, 2005, during a high school graduation trip to Aruba, a Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. An American student from Mountain Brook, Alabama, Holloway graduated from Mountain Brook High School on May 24, 2005, shortly before the trip...
, of her disappearance in Aruba
Aruba
Aruba is a 33 km-long island of the Lesser Antilles in the southern Caribbean Sea, located 27 km north of the coast of Venezuela and 130 km east of Guajira Peninsula...
.
On 11 January 2008, van der Sloot threw a glass of red wine into De Vries' face right after a live broadcast of the Dutch talk show "Pauw & Witteman
Pauw & Witteman
Pauw & Witteman is a Dutch late-night talk show, hosted by Jeroen Pauw en Paul Witteman. It is generally focused on current affairs and politics. It is broadcast every weekday at 11 pm on Nederland 1. It is produced by Dutch public broadcasters NPS and VARA....
" on which De Vries and Van der Sloot (with his parents) had been guests. The wine got into De Vries' eyes and briefly it seemed to have caused him a considerable amount of pain. During the tense but peaceful conversation during the broadcast, De Vries had on several accounts challenged Van der Sloot's integrity.
On 31 January 2008, De Vries said to the media that he knew what had happened in the case of Natalee Holloway. He shared his findings with the police, stating that he would publicly show this new-found evidence in a special episode of his television program. On February 3, 2008, the undercover video aired on Dutch television showing Van der Sloot purportedly smoking marijuana and admitting to being present during Holloway's death. The show was watched by 7 million viewers in the Netherlands and was the most popular non-sports program in Dutch television history. Patrick van der Eem
Patrick van der Eem
Patrick Paul van der Eem is a Dutch Antillean entrepreneur and convicted drug dealer known for his part in the undercover television report about Joran van der Sloot that was produced by Dutch crime reporter Peter R. de Vries...
, working undercover for De Vries, had befriended Van der Sloot, who was unaware that he was being taped when he said that Holloway had suffered some kind of seizure while having sex on the beach. After failing to revive her, he said that he summoned a friend named Daury, who loaded her on a boat and dumped her body into the sea. The prosecutor in Aruba determined the video was admissible, but the evidence was deemed insufficient to warrant re-arrest. Although the taped confession appeared damning, Van der Sloot argued that he was lying to impress Van der Eem, whom he believed was a drug dealer. Van der Eem said that ABC paid US$830,000 to secure the rights to broadcast the program in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
De Vries wrote the introduction to the June 2008 book Overboord: hoe ik Joran van der Sloot aan het praten kreeg (Overboard: how I got Joran van der Sloot to talk) in which Van der Eem recounts his experience with Van der Sloot with transcripts of the undercover video. On September 22, 2008 in New York, De Vries accepted an International Emmy Award in Current Affairs for his coverage while accompanied by Natalee's mother Beth Holloway
Beth Holloway
Elizabeth Ann Reynolds "Beth" Holloway, also previously known as Beth Twitty, is an American speech pathologist and motivational speaker. Holloway specializes in teaching special needs children in public schools...
.
Joran van der Sloot sex trafficking
In November 2008, De Vries aired undercover footage of Van der Sloot making preparations for the apparent sex trafficking of ThaiThai people
The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...
women in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
. De Vries claimed that Van der Sloot was making $13,000 for every woman sold into prostitution in the Netherlands. Van der Sloot used the alias of "Murphy Jenkins" to avoid Thai authorities. Peruvian Minister of Justice
Ministry of Justice (Peru)
The Ministry of Justice of Peru is the government ministry charged with advising the President of Peru in judicial matters.The ministry is responsible, among other matters, for the national prison system as well as the state's relationship with the Roman Catholic Church in Peru.The current...
Aurelio Pastor
Aurelio Pastor
Aurelio Pastor Valdivieso is a Peruvian politician and a former Congressman representing San Martín for the 2006-2011 term. Pastor belongs to the Peruvian Aprista Party. He was soundly defeated in his 2011 campaign for congressional representative of Lima....
said that Thailand is pursuing criminal charges against Van der Sloot. According to The National Enquirer
The National Enquirer
The National Enquirer is an American supermarket tabloid now published by American Media Inc . Founded in 1926, the tabloid has gone through a variety of changes over the years....
, he is being investigated for his involvement in the disappearance of young women he may have recruited for a Thai sex slave gang while posing as a production consultant for a modeling agency
Modeling agency
A modeling agency is a company that represents fashion models, to work for the fashion industry. These agencies earn their income via commission, usually from the deal they make with the model and or the head agency....
that would send them to Europe.
Death of Mariska Mast
In August 2010, De Vries traveled to Subiaco, Western AustraliaSubiaco, Western Australia
Subiaco is an inner western suburb of Perth, Western Australia, situated to the north west of Kings Park. Its Local Government Area is the City of Subiaco.-History:Prior to European settlement the area was home to the Noongar Indigenous people....
in an attempt to interview dive instructor Daniel Ian Ross, who is being sought through Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
for the August 2008 death of 23-year-old Dutch tourist Mariska Esmeralde Mast at the Honduran
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
island of Roatán
Roatán
Roatán, located between the islands of Útila and Guanaja, is the largest of Honduras' Bay Islands. The island was formerly known as Ruatan and Rattan...
. Ross was initially arrested and released after surrendering his British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
passport with instructions not to leave the island. Ross, who has dual citizenship, then used his Australian passport to leave the island. Ross denied responsibility for the death through his lawyers in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, which does not have an extradition
Extradition
Extradition is the official process whereby one nation or state surrenders a suspected or convicted criminal to another nation or state. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
treaty with Honduras. An autopsy report stated that Mast died of blunt force injuries
Blunt trauma
In medical terminology, blunt trauma, blunt injury, non-penetrating trauma or blunt force trauma refers to a type of physical trauma caused to a body part, either by impact, injury or physical attack; the latter usually being referred to as blunt force trauma...
and asphyxia
Asphyxia
Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of severely deficient supply of oxygen to the body that arises from being unable to breathe normally. An example of asphyxia is choking. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which primarily affects the tissues and organs...
tion resulting from strangulation
Strangling
Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and as the auxiliary lethal mechanism in hangings in the event the neck does not break...
. His flatmate Jisoo Han
Jisoo Han
Jisoo Han is a South Korean underwater diving instructor who was held in Honduras. She was jailed for 110 days and was placed under house arrest for 306 days in connection with the death of Dutch tourist Mariska Mast at the Honduran island of Roatán...
, who helped take Mast to the hospital, was later arrested and is under house arrest
House arrest
In justice and law, house arrest is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to his or her residence. Travel is usually restricted, if allowed at all...
in Honduras. Han publicly appealed to Ross to come forward and exonerate her. Ross called the police when De Vries attempted to contact him at his home on August 19. De Vries was arrested and paid a $200 fine for disobeying a police order to move on. On September 6, Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
Giuseppe Cicchini rejected an application by Ross for a restraining order
Restraining order
A restraining order or order of protection is a form of legal injunction that requires a party to do, or to refrain from doing, certain acts. A party that refuses to comply with an order faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
against De Vries, who had by then left the country. De Vries criticized the Western Australia Police
Western Australia Police
The Western Australia Police services an area of 2.5 million square kilometres, the world's largest non-federated area of jurisdiction. In 2008, its 7,526 employees included 5,647 police officers.-History:-Early history:...
for arresting him, stating: "I didn't touch him, I didn't insult him, I didn't threaten him... This is a homicide case and I tracked him down and now you're putting me in jail. That's the world upside down."
Documentary work with Beth Holloway
On September 11, 2010, De Vries traveled to LimaLima
Lima is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín rivers, in the central part of the country, on a desert coast overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Together with the seaport of Callao, it forms a contiguous urban area known as the Lima...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
with his television crew and Beth Holloway
Beth Holloway
Elizabeth Ann Reynolds "Beth" Holloway, also previously known as Beth Twitty, is an American speech pathologist and motivational speaker. Holloway specializes in teaching special needs children in public schools...
to visit Miguel Castro Castro prison where Joran van der Sloot was being held while awaiting trial for the murder and robbery of Stephany Tatiana Flores Ramírez. According to Van der Sloot's attorney Maximo Alonso Altez Navarro, his client was taken to meet them "practically by force." Altez Navarro stated that the meeting with Holloway took "less than one minute," with Van der Sloot saying that he could not speak to her without his lawyer present and handing her his business card. Altez Navarro claimed that Holloway was "snuck" into the prison without being identified by the media crew who she was with. A prison spokesperson stated that Holloway's name was not found in the visitor registry. The group was removed from the prison, reportedly after a hidden camera
Hidden camera
A hidden camera is a still or video camera used to film people without their knowledge. The camera is "hidden" because it is either not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another object...
was discovered by the guards. Representatives for Holloway and De Vries denied that a hidden camera was involved nor was anything seized. Colonel Abel Gamarra of the National Police of Peru
National Police of Peru
The Peruvian National Police is the national police force of Peru. Its jurisdiction covers the nation's land, sea, and air territories. Formed from the merger of the Investigative Police, the Civil Guard, and the Republican Guard in 1988, it is one of the largest police forces in Latin America...
stated that no arrests had been made. While in Peru, Holloway spoke with Flores Ramírez's brother Enrique on camera. On September 17, De Vries and the group left Peru for Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
and arrived in Aruba on the same day. He spent a few days in Aruba working with Holloway on a documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about her missing daughter to be run on Dutch television, reportedly with the cooperation of prosecutors who had been investigating Van der Sloot.
Politics
In 2005, De Vries started a political party, Partij voor Rechtvaardigheid, Daadkracht en VooruitgangParty for Justice, Action and Progress
The Party for Justice, Action and Progress was a political party in the Netherlands without parliamentary representation. It was founded May 2005 by the crime journalist Peter R. de Vries. The abbreviation of the party's name, PRDV, is also his initials....
(P.R.D.V. or Party for Justice, Action and Progress). On October 31, he presented his plans that mainly focused on changing the existing political culture in the Netherlands. To prove his point, he stated that an opinion poll on 16 December would decide whether he would actually continue his party or not, with a 41% cut-off point. Since only 31.4% thought De Vries would be a gain for Dutch politics, he decided to disband the party.
Board game
- Peter R. de Vries Misdaadverslaggever ("Peter R. de Vries crime reporter") ISBN 978-9026119248
External links
Peter R. de Vries (official website)- Peter R. de Vries (international website)