National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo has informed that the number of suspects in the Kanjuruhan Stadium stampede that left 131 people dead could increase.
The National Police have so far named six suspects in the case. They have been identified by their initials as AHL (president director of PT Liga Indonesia Baru), AH (head of the organizing committee), SS (a security officer), WSS (Malang Police's operation division head), H (company commander 3 of East Java Police's Mobile Brigade), and TSA (head of Malang Police's public order unit).
According to Prabowo, AHL was responsible for ensuring that every stadium held a proper certification based on its function. The requirements for the proper functioning of the stadium had not been fulfilled. The 2020 verification results were used to determine this.
Meanwhile, AH, who was the organizer and coordinator of the match’s organizing committee, was found to have omitted preparing safety and security documents for spectators at the stadium.
“SS, as a security officer, did not make risk assessment documents. SS was responsible for risk assessment documents for all matches. SS also instructs stewards to leave the gate when an incident occurs," Prabowo informed.
He further said that WSS was aware of the FIFA rules prohibiting the use of tear gas. However, he reportedly did not prevent or prohibit the use of tear gas when the stampede broke out.
Meanwhile, H and TSA gave orders to their members in the field to fire tear gas during the riots that followed a match between Arema FC and Persebaya, he added.
The suspects have been charged under Article 359 and Article 360 of the Criminal Code (KUHP), as well as Article 103 juncto Article 52 of Law Number 11/2022 concerning Sports.
On Saturday (October 1) evening, a riot broke out after Arema FC lost 2-3 to Persebaya Surabaya at Kanjuruhan Stadium with several fans trying to storm the pitch.
Police responded by firing tear gas, which triggered a stampede.
Head of the Indonesian Police's public relations division, Inspector General Dedi Prasetyo, earlier confirmed that the final death toll in the Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy reached 131.
"The final number of casualties is 131 people," Prasetyo said.
The data on total fatalities were obtained via joint verification conducted by the regional health office, the disaster victim identification (DVI) team, and directors of hospitals, he informed. (*)
Editor : Abdullah Rifai
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