The Dutch government will formally apologise to Indonesia for the Dutch army's 1947 executions of scores of people, the foreign ministry said Monday. Dutch troops fighting to retain Indonesia as a colony swept into the Javan village of Rawagede and carried out the mass executions.
Dutch officials say 150 people were killed, but a support group says the death toll was 431. In September, a Hague-based court ruled in favour of seven widows and a survivor of the massacre in the village east of Jakarta, known today as Balongsari. An eighth widow in the case died earlier. The Netherlands agreed to pay 180,000 euros ($242,000) total in compensation. Aad Meijer said, adding that the ambassador would address residents during a ceremony in the village.