King Wilhelm-Alexander of the Netherlands apologized this Saturday for the practice of slavery in his country on the 160th anniversary of the abolition of a “crime against humanity” that went unpunished until it was eliminated.

“Of all the ways to deprive a person of his freedom, the most slavery this is the most painful and most humiliating,” said the monarch during a speech on the occasion of the National Day of Remembrance for Slavery, held in Amsterdambetween applause and cries of “Finally!”.

In recent months, the king has received regular calls to apologize, such as in February during his visit, accompanied by Queen Maxima and Crown Princess Amalia, to the Caribbean part of the kingdom.

First Minister DutchMark Rutte, previously apologized for past slavery on December 19, 2022 in multiple languages.

“Today on behalf of Dutch governmentI apologize for the actions of the Dutch state in the past: all posthumously enslaved people all over the world who suffered for these actions, their daughters and sons, as well as all their descendants here and now,” Rutte said.

Now the monarch looked back at his country’s colonial past in Caribbean and Surinamechiefly by stating that “books show facts only through the eyes of a librarian, and the voices of the enslaved are pages blown by the wind.”