Indonesia soccer crush: Court acquits two police, jails one

An Indonesian court on Thursday acquitted two police officials charged with negligence leading to the deaths of 135 people in October when police fired tear gas inside a stadium setting off a panicked run for the exitsA third official was sentenced to 18 months in prisonThe disaster in Kanjuruhan stadium in East Javas Malang city was among the worlds worst sporting tragedies Some 43 children were among the deaths and about 580 spectators were injuredA panel of three judges at Surabaya District Court which was under heavy police guard absolved police officers Pranoto and Achmadi of charges because they found no direct causal link between the defendants actions and the deadly crowd crush The two were released ThursdayPresiding judge Abu Achmad Sidqi Amsya said the court found that defendant Wahyu Setyo Pranoto the Malang police head of operations never ordered the use of tear gas at the match and knew that international soccer governing body FIFA had advised against its use in stadiumsAmsya said the tear gas ordered by defendant Bambang Sidik Achmadi head of crowd control was aimed at the centre of the pitch and dissipated in the wind without hitting any spectatorsThe defendant has not been proven legally and convincingly guilty Amsya saidHe ordered that the two defendants be released from detention immediately after the decision However the tear gas fired into the stands under Hasdarmawans instruction caused a rush to six exits where many fans were crushed or suffocated and died Amsya said Like many Indonesians Hasdarmawan uses only one nameThe court convicted Hasdarmawan who was head of East Java polices mobile brigade unit at the time of the tragedy of criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm concluding a twomonth trial in which about 140 witnesses testified Hasdarmawan was sentenced to 18 months iquest far below the three years sought by prosecutors He said he is considering appealing the decisionProsecutors said they are considering whether to appeal all three defendants cases An appeal must be filed within seven days Authorities in Surabaya the capital of East Java province deployed 350 police to secure the court for its ruling ThursdayAlso read Indonesian court jails organiser security chief in soccer tragedyArema fans known widely as Aremania were prohibited from coming to Surabaya during the trial to avoid any clashesAbdul Haris who chairs the organizing committee for Arema FC the team that hosted the match was sentenced on March 9 to 18 months in prison The clubs security chief Suko Sutrisno got 12 months Surabaya District Court judges said the two defendants had not verified the safety of the stadium since 2020 and did not prepare an emergency plan to handle special cases per the Football Association of Indonesias 2021 security and safety regulationsThe trial for another suspect Akhmad Hadian Lukita is still pending He heads PT Liga Indonesia Baru which administers the countrys top professional soccer divisionPolice had described the pitch invasion as a riot and said two officers were killed but witnesses accused them of overreacting Videos showed officers kicking and hitting fans with batons and forcibly pushing spectators back into the standsNational Police Chief Listyo Sigit Prabowo removed the police chiefs of East Java province and Malang district and suspended 20 other officers after the tragedy over violations of professional ethicsAn investigation set up by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in response to a national outcry over the deaths concluded that the tear gas was the main cause of the crowd surgeIt said police on duty had no knowledge that the use of tear gas is prohibited at soccer stadiums and used it indiscriminately on the field in the stands and outside the stadium causing the more than 42000 spectators inside the 36000seat stadium to rush to the exits several of which were lockedWidodos factfinding team also concluded that national soccer association PSSI had been negligent and ignored safety and security regulationsIts chair and executive committee were replaced last month and it is now led by Erick Thohir the former owner and chairman of Italian soccer giant Inter Milan and US soccer club DC United who has served as Indonesias minister of StateOwned Enterprises since 2019This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever