Dutch not to blame for 1977 train-hijacker killings: court

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July 25, 2018 5:26 PM

Last year, the district court in The Hague had ordered an in-depth probe into the deaths, after their families said they were executed at point-blank range.

A court Wednesday cleared Dutch soldiers of accusations that they executed two Moluccan hostage-takers who hijacked a train in 1977, and ruled the state was not responsible for their deaths.

Last year, the district court in The Hague had ordered an in-depth probe into the deaths, after their families said they were executed at point-blank range when Dutch marines stormed the train to end a three-week standoff.

"The plaintiffs argued that Max Papilaja and Hansina Uktolseja were unnecessarily killed by the soldiers, when there was a real possibility to arrest them. The court rejects that," the tribunal said in a statement.

The nine separatist hostage-takers, including Uktolseja -- the only woman in the group -- were originally from the Molucca islands and fighting for independence from Indonesia.

They seized the train at the small hamlet of De Punt in northern Netherlands, and held 55 passengers hostage for three weeks, in a tense standoff with police. That ended on June 11, 1977 when the marines stormed the train.

During a violent exchange of gunfire when the train was riddled with bullets, six hostage-takers and two hostages were killed. Six other passengers were wounded.

The Dutch government has always maintained the operation to free the hostages was done according to the book and that the marines acted "with honest belief" in using deadly force in the heat of battle.

But the families of Papilaja and Uktolseja sued after seeing autopsy reports in 2013 which suggested the two were shot at point blank range. The families demanded the state admit guilt and pay damages amounting to around 55,000 euros ($59,000).

The court ruled on Wednesday that at the time of the shooting it was not clear if the two hostage-takers still posed a threat and had been disarmed.

"It was also not established if the bullet which killed Max Papilaja was fired by a soldier in the train," the court said in its final ruling.

Moluccans first arrived in The Netherlands in 1951 following Indonesia's independence in 1949, fearing reprisals after having fought on the side of the Dutch colonial army.

They planned to stay for only a few months before returning to an independent country, as part of negotiations at the time between the Dutch government and Indonesia.

Their wish however never materialised and some 12,500 Moluccans were left stranded in the Netherlands, crammed together in suburbs across the country.

The 1970s saw a number of violent actions by second-generation Moluccans, who felt betrayed by the Dutch for failing to secure their independent homeland.

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