Two Indonesian match officials jailed over deadly soccer stampede

SURABAYA, Indonesia (Reuters) – An Indonesian court handed prison sentences to two soccer match officials on Thursday after finding them guilty of negligence over one of the world’s deadliest stadium stampedes.

After tear gas was sprayed into the crowd, 135 people were killed in the chaos at Malang FC’s October 2022 derby match between Persebaya Surabaya and Arema FC.

Abdul Haris (a match official) was found guilty “due to his negligence causing people to die and get severely injured”, judge Abu Achmad Shiddqi Hamsya said at the court in Surabaya. He was sentenced for a year, and a quarter in prison.

Suko Sutrisno was found negligent by the judges, and he was sentenced for one year.

These men were employed by Arema FC and banned from all soccer activities throughout their lives, according to the national football federation.

A human rights investigation in Indonesia found that the primary cause of the stampede involved police shooting into the crowd 45 rounds tear gas. This is a measure to control the number of soccer players FIFA banned.

The stadium had also been filled to capacity, according to investigators.

The representatives of the match officials said that they would review it before proceeding with legal action.

Miftahuddin 52, the father of one victim, stated that verdicts had been rendered. “lacking”.

“How was that sentence so light?” He said that a harsher sentence would have provided relief. “to (his) daughter…who is in another realm”.

Three other officers were also accused of the same offenses and will face trial at a later stage.

(Reporting done by Prasto Wardoyo, Ananda Teresia and Stanley Widianto at Jakarta. Edited by Martin Petty, Kanupriya Kaoor).