5 people including 3 police officers stand trial for Indonesia football tragedy

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – Five people including three police officers stood for trial on Monday for Indonesian football tragedy that killed more than 100 people last year.

The court hearing was held in Surabaya district, East Java province, which saw three police officers, a security officer and a soccer match organizer charged with “criminal negligence” during Kanjuruhan football stadium tragedy in which 125 people were killed due to stampede and riots during a football game last October.

Authorities had to shift the hearing online due to fear of public anger over physical presence of the accused.

Three judges are hearing the case in one of the world’s biggest football tragedies, local Kompas TV reported.

if found guilty, the accused can go to jail for at least five years.

After supporters of the losing home team stormed the pitch in the football stadium in Malang region of East Java province, officers fired tear gas to disperse them, triggering the stampede and cases of suffocation. The injured were treated at around eight health facilities.

According to police estimates, around 40,000 spectators attended the game, with 3,000 of them rushing into the stadium.