Indonesia Jails Two Football Match Officials over Stadium Crush

SURABAYA, KOMPAS.com - An Indonesian court on Thursday, March 9, jailed two football match officials for negligence over one of the worst stadium disasters in the sport's history.

The crush in October at a venue in the East Java city of Malang killed 135 people after police fired tear gas into packed stands when supporters invaded the pitch.

Hundreds of people fled for narrow exits, resulting in a stampede that left many trampled and suffocated to death, including more than 40 children.

Abdul Haris, the head of the organizing committee for the match, was found guilty of negligence and handed 18 months in prison. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of six years and eight months.

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"The defendant did not read the situation and played down the possibility of an emergency situation or chaos," presiding judge Abu Achmad Sidqi Amsya told the court in the city of Surabaya.

The verdict is Indonesia's first ruling on the tragedy.

Moments later, security official Suko Sutrisno was also found guilty of negligence and sentenced to one year in prison.

Prosecutors had also sought six years and eight months in his case.

The judge said Sutrisno "did not anticipate the chaos because there had never been an emergency situation before".

He also "did not understand his job as a security official well", the judge added.

Mochamad Munif, a father who lost his 20-year-old daughter in the tragedy, said the sentences were too lenient and an injustice.

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"Honestly, I cannot accept it. If it's not capital punishment, it is very hard for me to forgive," he told AFP.

A lawyer representing another family who lost two children told AFP that prosecutors must appeal.