AMSTERDAM, 24/03/01 - The Public Prosecutors' Office (OM) in Amsterdam will not instigate criminal proceedings against Jorge Zorreguieta, the father of Crown Prince Willem Alexander's Argentinean girlfriend Maxima. There is no legal basis for prosecution, the OM claims.

At the beginning of this year, former UNESCO ambassador M. Mourik placed charges against all members of the Videla government during the period 1976 to 1983. The OM decided on Friday not to take the charges further. Zorreguieta was first State Secretary and later Minister of Agriculture during the Videla regime.

Mourik's accusations against Zorreguieta included crimes against humanity and torture. However, the OM declared that actions during the period 1976-1983 are not liable to prosecution, as the Torture Treaty Implementation Act in the Netherlands only came into effect in 1989. From that year, anyone anywhere in the world may be prosecuted in the Netherlands for torture and crimes against humanity.

For the same reason, the OM was not willing to prosecute former Surinam army leader Desi Bouterse for the December murders in 1982. After a complaints procedure started at the law court in Amsterdam, the OM was instructed to do this anyway. As the OM continued to have doubts about its authority in this case, it submitted "An appeal in the interests of the law" to the Supreme Court.

Mourik was astonished on Friday at the refusal of the OM. "The public prosecutor had previously stated that he would wait for the Supreme Court decision in the Bouterse case. " The former UNESCO ambassador was considering a complaints procedure against the decision, but intended to consult his lawyer B. Bohler first. Later on Friday, Ms Bohler confirmed the intention of starting a complaints procedure.