RTL Boulevard studio temporarily relocates from Leidseplein after serious threats

The live broadcasts from RTL Boulevard will no longer be broadcast from their studio at the Leidseplein in Amsterdam for the time being, the AD reported on Sunday.

The television studio was evacuated on Saturday evening due to unspecified threats. Sources told RTL Nieuws that the threats had come from “a corner of organized crime”. Dutch crime reporter, Peter R. de Vries was shot in the head in front of the studio on Tuesday after appearing on the show.

“Criminals are capable of disrupting broadcasts of a TV program and instilling fear. This has consequences for all news platforms in the Netherlands”, crime reporter John van den Heuvel said in an Instagram post on Saturday, “We will never be silent. Van den Heuvel has been threatened multiple times in the past due to his profession; the motorcycle club No Surrender even putting a price on his head in 2017.

Canceling an entire program due to a threat is unique in the Netherlands, press freedom leader Peter ter Velde said to the NOS. In the past there had also incidents when threats were made against journalists “but I think it is unique that an entire program has been scrapped”, Ter Velde said.

Ter Velde said he sees the boundaries of threats and violence against journalists being pushed further and further. “In this case, the media can do little about this, there are no training courses for that. In such a situation, you are completely dependent on the work of the investigative services.”