Het Vrije Woord (Dutch East Indies newspaper)

[3] However, the paper still earned the respect of many nationalistic Indonesians in its early years, first because it denounced the arrest of the radical Mas Marco in 1916, and then because it publicly opposed the Indië Weerbar campaign to establish a 'native' army in the Indies.

[5] Recognizing the limitations of only spreading Social Democratic propaganda to Europeans in the Indies, Baars worked hard to learn Malay and Javanese.

[9] The firing was widely covered in the Dutch press of the Indies; the Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad stated that Baars had defied the Government until his dismissal, so there was no need to feel sorry for him, and that he had in addition made "disgraceful" attacks on the education system in Het Vrije Woord.

[10] In 1918, the colonial government deported Het Vrije Woord editor Sneevliet from the Indies for his organizing work among Dutch soldiers and Sailors, and then in early 1919 Baars also left voluntarily and returned to the Netherlands.

[8] However, in 1919 Het Vrije Woord added Pieter Bergsma, another European socialist in the Indies who also edited his own paper Volharding, as a replacement for Baars.

[16] His recent articles in Het Vrije Woord were also cited as reasons, including one protesting the arrest of a PKI member, another describing the German counter-revolution,[17] and one criticizing the practice of Pretrial detention in the Indies.