A court in the Indonesian city of Surabaya began the trial on Monday against five accused of negligence during riots at a football stadium, which left more than 135 dead and half a thousand injured after a match played last October.
The trial, the duration of which is uncertain, began today in the court of Surabaya, in the province of East Java.in the middle of a reinforced security in order to avoid possible protests, which is why the court has also limited the number of attendees and journalists, while prohibiting the real-time transmission of the session.
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According to the documents attached to the process, The five defendants, including three policemen, will be tried for alleged negligence in the events of October 1when A crowd stormed the field during a match held at the Kanjuruhan Stadium in the city of Malang and clashed with security forces.who responded with bombs tear gas and panic.
The violent response provoked a stampede generalization that culminated in some 137 deadamong them more than 30 minors, and more than 460 injured, in what is considered one of the worst tragedies in the history of world football.
The five accused for their alleged responsibility in the chaotic reaction to the invasion of the pitch are the president of the organizing committee of the Arema club, Abdul Haris; the head of stadium security, Suko Sutrisno; the commander of an East Java Police Mobile Brigade, Hasdarmawan; Malang Police Operations Section Chief Wahyu Setyo Pranoto and Malang Police Chief Bambang Sidik Achmadi.
The defendants will testify before the court via teleconference and it is expected that the trial, in which some 140 witnesses must also be heardis held in a “marathon” format, with hearings scheduled three times a week.
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Following the Malang tragedy, whose horror images went around the world, Indonesian President Joko Widodo announced the creation of a independent commission to determine the responsible for the fatal outcome and find out what the police are doing.
In the framework of the investigations, the authorities have already been able to detect a series of errors by the police forces during the celebration of the matchdisputed between the local team Arema and the visiting team Persebaya Surabaya, such as the partial closure of some of the exits and other failures in the security of the stadium that had not been resolved since 2020.
They also determined that many of the victims died of suffocation and from fractures when they tried to escape due to the large crowd of people that occurred after the release of tear gas, pointed out by the Indonesian National Human Rights Commission as the main trigger for the stampede.
The tragedy also led to the creation of a joint working group between the Indonesian government and FIFA to improve security measures at stadiums as the Asian country prepares to host the U-20 World Cup. to be held between May and June.
