Herdenking treinkaping De Punt

DE PUNT – Relatives of the Moluccan hostage-takers in the 1977 train hijacking near De Punt gathered today for a commemoration. The private commemoration was held near the spot where the hijacked train was stationary for three weeks. The commemoration was preceded by a procession through the meadows to the railway line, during which the flags of the Netherlands and the Republic of South Moluccas (RMS) were carried. Eight chairs with roses stood at the hijacking site, symbolizing the six dead hijackers and two passengers who perished. The Moluccan relatives also invited the Dutch hostages and their families to the private commemoration. After the gathering near De Punt, the group departed for the cemetery in Assen, where the six Moluccan hostage-takers who were shot dead are buried. Former hijacker Junus Ririmasse, Nona Lumalessil, and journalist Jan Beckers organized the commemoration. The trio is convinced that Marines executed the Moluccan hijackers at the time. The Ministry of Justice is currently investigating the precise outcome of the train hijacking. Families of the hijackers who were shot dead have hired a lawyer to take legal action against the Dutch state. The lawyer, Liesbeth Zegveld, also attended the commemoration. Because she and the organizers of the commemoration were threatened, the police kept a close eye on everything. The commemoration proceeded peacefully.