A case that would have seen Big Tobacco companies accused of attempted murder and manslaughter will not be pursued by the Dutch public prosecutor's office, Bloomberg reported.

Brought by an anti-smoking lobby group, the charges were filed with the prosecutor's office in 2016 against Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Japan Tobacco International and Imperial Tobacco Benelux. Had the case been pursued, it would have marked a new strategy from anti-smoking groups in their campaigns against tobacco companies.
“A successful prosecution of the tobacco manufacturers – one resulting in a conviction – is not possible within the current regulations and parameters,” the authority said in a statement. Bloomberg reported the prosecutor's office did not find “any indication that by offering cigarettes, the tobacco manufacturers have stepped outside the margins prescribed by the legislator.”
Dutch criminal-law attorney Benedicte Ficq, who filed the case on behalf of lung cancer and respiratory disease patients and Dutch Youth Smoking Prevention Foundation, told reporters she will now take the case to the Court of Appeals in The Hague. The case will have to be filed within three months, Ficq said.