The Hague appeals court has dismissed a case against two Dutch shipbuilding companies accused of profiting from North Korean forced laborers.

The Amsterdam-based nonprofit La Strada International had filed a complaint against the two unnamed firms for allegedly acquiring vessels from Polish shipyards that it knew employed DPRK workers, but the Hague Court of Appeal concluded that there is not enough evidence to “establish a direct link between those offenses and the accused companies,” according to the nonprofit.

“On 15 of April 2024, the Hague Court of Appeal decided that two Dutch companies are not to be prosecuted for profiting