A soccer match official was sentenced to one year and six months in prison, while a stadium security officer was sentenced to one year in jail by an Indonesian court on Thursday (Mar. 9), Detik reported.
They were both declared guilty of negligence over the deadly Oct. 2023 stadium stampede which claimed the lives of 135 people, Detik reported.
One year six months in prison
Abdul Haris was the chairman of the organising committee for the match between Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya in October 2022, which ended in a stampede.
Police officers fired tear gas into the crowd who had run onto the football pitch, causing fans to squeeze and trample on each other.
The judge found Abdul Haris guilty of negligence which resulted in death or injury.
The prison sentence of one year and six months is lighter than the sentence sought by the prosecutor of six years and eight months.
One year in prison
In a separate trial, Suko Sutrisno, Arema FC’s security officer, was sentenced to one year in prison for negligence which resulted in death or injury.
The sentence was also lighter than the one sought by the prosecutor, six years and eight months in prison.
Meanwhile, three other defendants from the police force were charged with causing death or injury due to oversight. They are still awaiting trials.
The investigation by Indonesia’s human rights commission found that the main reason for the stampede was the 45 rounds of tear gas fired by the police into the crowd, Reuters reported.
The international governing body of football, Fédération Internationale De Football Association (FIFA), had banned the use of tear gas as a crowd control measure.
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Top image via Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images
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