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Indonesian policeman jailed over football stadium crush

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People offer flowers at the monument for Arema FC in Malang in Indonesia's East Java Province.
People offer flowers at the monument for Arema FC in Malang in Indonesia's East Java Province.
Kyodo News via Getty Images
  • An Indonesian policeman was jailed for 18 months on Thursday. 
  • He was convicted of negligence over a fatal football stadium crush.
  • The crush killed 135 people, including children.  


An Indonesian court jailed a policeman for 18 months on Thursday over negligence that contributed to one of the worst stadium disasters in the history of football, but victims' families voiced despair as two other officers walked free.

Several relatives of those killed in last October's stadium crush broke into tears when the judge read the verdicts on the last day of the trial, with one lawyer saying there had been "no justice" for the families.

The crush in the city of Malang killed 135 people - including more than 40 children - after a 3-2 defeat for Arema FC by their fierce East Javan rivals Persebaya Surabaya.

When supporters invaded the pitch of the Kanjuruhan Stadium, police fired tear gas, causing a deadly stampede.

The man jailed on Thursday, Hasdarmawan - who like many Indonesians goes by one name - was a commander for East Java police's mobile brigade unit.

Judge Abu Achmad Sidqi Amsya said:

The defendant failed to predict a situation that was actually quite easy to anticipate. There was an option not to fire (the tear gas) to respond to the supporters' violence.

Hasdarmawan had previously denied ordering his subordinates to fire tear gas towards the supporters.

Wearing a white shirt and a face mask, the officer listened quietly as the judge delivered the sentence, which was shorter than the three years prosecutors had asked for.

He has seven days to file an appeal.

Moments later, Malang police officer Bambang Sidik Achmadi, also accused of ordering his subordinates to fire tear gas, was found not guilty by the court.

Judge Amsya said the charges had "not been proven", and the defendant was free to go.

The court also found another Malang police officer Wahyu Setyo Pranoto not guilty.

Prosecutors had initially claimed Pranoto ignored FIFA's regulation prohibiting the use of tear gas at a football match.

'No justice'

Last week, the court sentenced the head of the match organising committee, Abdul Haris, and security official Suko Sutrisno to 18 months and one year in prison respectively.

The former director of the company that runs Indonesia's premier league has also been named as a suspect and remains under investigation.

Imam Hidayat, a lawyer who represents some of the victims said:

The victims have said they are not satisfied with the verdict. There is no justice for them. This has further proven that this Kanjuruhan case has been manipulated.

Hidayat said the case was marred with inconsistencies from the beginning.

"There were so many inconsistencies, might as well declare all of them not guilty," he said.

Several relatives of the victims broke into tears upon hearing the verdicts.

"I am certainly not satisfied and disappointed. I was hoping they would get a fair sentence... I feel like the justice has been shredded," Isatus Sa'adah, who lost her 16-year-old brother in the stampede, told reporters.

Another relative of the victim said the acquittal of two defendants has hurt his family.

Muhammad Rifkiyanto, who lost his 22-year-old cousin said:

Our family is very disappointed by the judge's ruling that acquitted the defendants... we were hoping the sentence would be harsher than the prosecutors' recommendation, not lower.

The government-backed National Commission of Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has previously said deaths in the Kanjuruhan stampede were caused by the tear gas and the police response.

The tragedy forced Indonesian officials to confront failings in various aspects of the domestic game, which has been blighted for years by shaky infrastructure, mismanagement and violence.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo ordered an investigation and pledged to demolish and rebuild the Kanjuruhan Stadium according to FIFA standards.

A task force investigating the crush has called on the head of Indonesia's football association and all the members of its executive committee to resign, but so far they have refused to do so.

FIFA head Gianni Infantino in October called the crush "one of the darkest days for football".

The government also suspended all competitive football games, but league matches resumed last month.

Indonesia is now getting ready to host in May and June the Under-20 World Cup in various cities.



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