Reporters were threatened, intimidated, abused, and physically assaulted.
Despite a strong political commitment to media freedom at the highest level, the Netherlands face a number of challenges with regard to the safety of journalists. 2021 was marked by the shooting of in‐ vestigative journalist Peter R de Vries on 6 July in the street in Amsterdam. His death, nine days after being shot, has shaken the country. While the case is still under investigation in order to find out the exact circumstances and motives behind the attack, and the alleged relation to his advisory role in the Marengo trial, the issue of the safety of journalists in the Netherlands was widely discussed again. A few days later, the RTL office, which de Vries had last visited on the day of the shooting, was forced to cancel its programmes after“serious threats” on its editorial office. In August, Groningen blog Sikkom editor-inchief Willem Groeneveld ’s house was targeted by molotov cocktails. He managed to extinguish the fire in the house in time. Physical assaults (12...