An Indonesian court on Thursday sentenced two football match officials to jail terms for negligence in connection with a stampede that killed 135 people in October last year in one of the worst stadium disasters in the sport’s history.
The stampede that took place in the city of Malang, East Java, killed 135 people, including more than 40 children, after police fired tear gas into crowded stands as fans stormed the stadium.
Hundreds of people ran towards the narrow exits, causing a stampede that left many trampled or suffocated.
Abdul Haris, one of the match officials, was found guilty of negligence and sentenced to 18 months in prison. The prosecutor’s office demanded a prison sentence of six years and eight months.
“I sentence the defendants to one and a half years in prison,” the head of the court, Abu Ahmad Sedki, told a court in the city of Surabaya.
The judges also found security officer Soko Sotrisno guilty of negligence and sentenced him to one year in prison.
“The defendant did not foresee chaos, because there had been no emergency before, and he did not understand his work as a security official,” the judge said.
The two men have seven days to appeal the decision.
Three local police officers have also been charged in the incident and are awaiting sentencing.
A former director of the company that runs the Indonesian Premier League has been named as a suspect and is still under police investigation.
The police described the stadium assault on 1 October as a riot and said two police officers were killed, but the survivors accused the police of using excessive force.
Fans of Arima Football Club took to the Kanguruhan Stadium in Malang City after their team lost 3-2 to Persibaya Surabaya; For the first time in more than twenty years, their team lost to an opponent.
The Indonesian National Police fired their local chiefs in Malang city and East Java province after the tragedy.
The government also suspended all competitive football matches, but league matches resumed without spectators last month.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered the Kanjuruhan Stadium to be surveyed, demolished and reconstructed to meet FIFA standards.
