Dutch state ordered to pay compensation over Indonesia massacre

[Watser?]

A Dutch court has ordered the government to compensate the widows of seven villagers who were summarily executed and a man shot and wounded in a notorious massacre during Indonesia's bloody battle for independence from colonial rule.

The Hague Civil Court ruled on Wednesday it was "unreasonable" for the government to argue that the widows were not entitled to compensation because the statute of limitations had expired.

According to Indonesian researchers, Dutch troops wiped out almost the entire male population of Rawagede, a village in West Java, two years before the former colony declared independence in 1949.

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Authorities in the Netherlands say 150 people died while a victims' association claims 431 lost their lives during an operation to root out a suspected independence fighter hiding in the village, known today as Balongsari.

None of the soldiers involved in the shooting, which took place on December 9, 1947 was ever prosecuted, Schreuder also said.

The Dutch government in 2009 decided to donate $1.16m to the area of Balongsari, but has avoided using the term "compensation", Dutch daily newspaper De Volkskrant reported.

The paper said however that it lost track of the money after it was paid over to Indonesian authorities and that little development had taken place so far in the village.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/as...145205737.html

Countdown for Geert Wilders to blame Islam for this in 3, 2, 1