The organizer of a soccer club and its security chief were jailed by an Indonesian court on Thursday on charges of negligence that led to the deaths of 135 people when police fired tear gas on the stadium last October, triggering a panicked run for the exits.
The disaster on the Kanjuruhan Stadium in the town of Malang in East Java was one among the world’s worst sports tragedies.
A 3-judge panel of the Surabaya District Court, which was under heavy police guard, convicted Abdul Haris, chairman of the Arema FC Organizing Committee, and the club’s security chief, Suko Sutrisno, of criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm after a virtually two-month probation period. About 140 witnesses testified through the trial.
Haris was sentenced to 18 months in prison and Sutrisno to 12 months, well below the greater than six years that prosecutors looked for each of them.
Presiding judge Abu Achmad Sidqi Amsya said the defendants had not checked the stadium’s security since 2020 and “didn’t prepare a contingency plan.”
Crowd panic after tear gas was fired caused crowds at six exits, leading to the death of many fans, he added.
“The defendants’ mistake has caused deep sadness for the victims’ families and has also created a negative stigma for Indonesian football within the eyes of the international community,” Amsya said.
The judges said they considered several aspects to commute the sentences, including Haris’ long involvement in the event of Indonesian football. Both defendants and prosecutors said they were considering appealing the decision. The appeal should be submitted inside seven days.
It was one among the deadliest football tragedies since greater than 300 people died in Peru in 1964.
Indonesian policemen charged with negligence over deadly football scare
Indonesian policemen charged with negligence over deadly football scare
Police fired tear gas as fans flooded the pitch after Arema FC were beaten at home for the primary time in 23 years by rivals Persebaya Surabaya. Only Arema fans attended the match, as organizers banned Persebaya fans resulting from Indonesia’s history of violent football rivalries.
Three cops who allowed or ordered officers to make use of tear gas are on trial in the identical court on the identical charges. Prosecutors demanded a three-year prison sentence, and the court is predicted to issue a sentence inside a number of weeks.
At least 11 officers fired tear gas – eight canisters into the stands and three into the sphere – to stop more spectators from leaving the sphere after the sport.
Police described the pitch invasion as a riot and said two officers were killed, but survivors accused them of overreacting. The recordings show officers kicking and hitting fans with batons and forcibly pushing spectators back into the stands.
After the tragedy, Police Chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo dismissed the police chiefs of East Java Province and Malang District, and suspended 20 other officers for violations of skilled ethics.
An investigation launched by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in response to nationwide outrage over the deaths concluded that tear gas was the fundamental reason for the group. It said cops on duty had no knowledge of the ban on using tear gas in football stadiums and used it “indiscriminately” on the pitch, within the stands and out of doors the stadium, causing greater than 42,000 spectators on the 36,000-seat stadium to rush to the exits – several of them were closed.
Widodo’s fact-finding team also found that the national football association PSSI was negligent and ignored safety and security regulations. Its chairman and executive committee were replaced last month, and it’s now headed by Erick Thohir, former owner and chairman of Italian soccer giant Inter Milan and US soccer club DC United, who has served as Indonesia’s minister of state-owned enterprises since 2019.
Authorities in Surabaya, the capital of East Java province, deployed 360 cops to secure the court’s ruling on Thursday.
Arema fans, commonly often called “Aremania”, were banned from coming to Surabaya through the trial to avoid any clashes with Persebai fans.
Devi Athok, a resident of Malang whose two daughters died within the accident, said he was upset with the ruling in a trial that involved so many victims.
“I don’t understand and I’m very disappointed with the verdict,” Athok said in an interview with Kompas TV. “It does not provide justice for victims and is not based on facts and evidence.”
He expressed hope that prosecutors would appeal against the decision “in order that justice can truly be served.”
