Indonesia: A court in Indonesia sentenced two football match officials to prison terms after being found guilty of carelessness in the instance of a stadium crush that resulted in the death of 135 people and is now one of the deadliest sporting disasters in history.

The incident happened in October 2022 during a tense match between bitter rivals Arema FC and Persebaya Surabaya in Malang, East Java. After a pitch invasion, police fired volleys of tear gas at the crowd, choking spectators and forcing them to flee through some locked exits, which led to the deadly crush.

Mr. Abdul Haris, who organised the game, was found guilty of “negligence causing people to die,” by a judge at the Surabaya court, which is located about 484 miles (780 kilometres) east of Jakarta, the Indonesian capital. A sentence of six years had been sought by prosecutors.

Mr. Suko Sutrisno, a stadium security guard, was also deemed negligent by the judges and given a one-year prison term. The verdict may be appealed by both men within seven days. The verdicts for three police officers, who were also accused of crimes after the catastrophe at the Kanjuruhan Stadium, will be rendered at a later time.

An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by Mr. Abdul Haris’ legal counsel. Police were seen using tear gas at both on-field spectators and those in the stands in video footage taken the night of the tragedy.

Following the court incident, the Legal Aid Institute of Indonesia and a number of other civil society organisations released a statement claiming that the police officers’ actions demonstrated a blatant abuse of authority and were intended to obstruct the legal system. After what happened at the stadium, Mr. Listyo Sigit Prabowo, the director of the Indonesian National Police, fired Ferli Hidayat, the chief of the Malang police department, and relieved nine other officials of their posts.

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