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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 11 March 2020

Dutch king apologizes

for colonial killings in

Indonesia

By ANDI JATMIKO and Netherlands refused to ac-
NINIEK KARMINI knowledge it and fought
Associated Press unsuccessfully to main-
BOGOR, Indonesia (AP) tain control of the lucra-
— King Willem-Alexander tive Asian outpost. It finally
of the Netherlands apolo- recognized the country as
gized Tuesday for his coun- an independent nation in
try's aggression during its December 1949. Indone-
colonial rule of Indonesia sian authorities claim some King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands shakes hands with Indonesian President Joko Widodo,
right, after a joint press conference at the presidential palace in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia,
and formally recognized 40,000 people were killed Tuesday, March 10, 2020.
the Southeast Asian coun- during the fighting, while Associated Press
try's independence date, most Dutch historians esti-
in his first state visit to the mate the dead at about
former Dutch colony. 1,500. A 1968 Dutch report
The king's apology was acknowledged "violent
conveyed after he and excesses" in Indonesia but
Queen Maxima were host- argued that Dutch troops
ed by Indonesian President were conducting a "police
Joko Widodo and his wife, action" often incited by
Iriana, at an official cer- guerrilla warfare and terror
emony in the ornate colo- attacks. The Dutch govern-
nial-style presidential pal- ment has never prosecut-
ace in Bogor, just outside ed any soldiers for the kill-
the capital, Jakarta. ings despite a U.N. report
The Netherlands did not condemning the attacks
initially apologize for its 350 as "deliberate and ruthless"
years of colonial rule and as early as 1948. The 2013
aggression until 2013, when apology by the Dutch am-
the Dutch ambassador ex- bassador cleared the way
pressed remorse for a series for the biggest-ever Dutch
of massacres carried out by trade mission to Indonesia
the Dutch military to crush in November 2013, led by
resistance against colonial Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
rule in Java and Sulawesi Subsequent apologies
islands after Indonesia's were made by Dutch For-
1945 declaration of inde- eign Minister Bert Koenders
pendence. That apology in 2016 and Rutte late last
came only after the victims' year during visits in Indo-
widows took the Dutch nesia. But unresolved de-
government to court. mands from those affected
"In line with the previous by past war crimes still loom
statement by my govern- large over the monarch's
ment, I would like to ex- current visit. The four-day
press my regret and apolo- state visit by the royal cou-
gize here for the excessive ple, who arrived in Jakarta
violence on the part of on Monday, aims to deep-
the Dutch in those years," en economic ties with In-
the king said Tuesday at a donesia. It's the first trip to
joint news conference with Indonesia for the king since
Widodo. "I do so with full he ascended the throne
awareness that the pain in 2013, and the fourth for
and sorrow of the affected the queen, whose previ-
families will be felt for gen- ous trips were part of her
erations." Indonesia de- role as U.N. Secretary-Gen-
clared its independence eral's Special Advocate
from Dutch colonial rule for Inclusive Finance for
on Aug. 17, 1945, but the Development.q