The Netherlands government will not prosecute Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie who was active in the gestapo in German occupied Holland in 1940-41, Justice Minister Korthals Altes told Parliament yesterday.
Replying to questions, Altes said there was insufficient evidence to bring war crimes charges against Barbie. He is known to have worked for the SS in The Hague and in Amsterdam during the latter part of 1940 and the first six months of 1941, before he was posted to France where he became gestapo chief in Lyon.
Barbie, known as the “butcher of Lyon,” was turned over to France by Bolivian authorities early last year and is awaiting trial in Lyon for crimes against humanity. The Netherlands State Institute for War Documentation says it has investigated his activities in occupied Holland but found no evidence of war crimes for which he could be tried owing to the statute of limitations.
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