An Indonesian court on Monday began a trial against a handful of police officers and football match organizers on charges of criminal negligence for their roles in the world’s deadliest football stadium stampede in Java last October.
The disaster, which killed 135 people, occurred after a match at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Malang, East Java, raising questions about security provisions and the use of tear gas, a crowd-control banned by football’s global governing body, FIFA. Measure.
A court in Surabaya will hear charges against five people, including three police officers and a security officer and a match organiser. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Court spokesman Agung Pranata said the hearing was being held via teleconference for security reasons.
Indonesia’s Human Rights Commission, which investigated the stampede last November, found that police fired 45 rounds of tear gas at the crowd at the end of the match, triggering the stampede. Investigators concluded that excessive and indiscriminate use of tear gas was the main trigger behind the fatal crush.