The Dutch government is discussing possible compensation for relatives of men killed in a massacre during Indonesia’s battle for independence, the foreign ministry confirmed in a statement on Wednesday.

In September, a Dutch court said the state is responsible for the massacre in the village of Rawagedeh on Java in which up to 430 men died. The court ordered the state to pay compensation.
The government has held preliminary talks with the relatives’ lawyer ‘about the possibility of reaching a settlement,’ a ministry spokesman said.
The spokesman could not say if this meant the government had decided not to appeal against the landmark court ruling.
Indonesia, a former Dutch colony, was granted sovereignty in 1949 after an armed struggle. In 1947, Dutch soldiers executed a group of around 431 men and boys in the West Java village of Rawagede. Official papers estimate the number of men killed at Rawagede (now called Balongsari) at 150.