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Brimob officer jailed over Kanjuruhan stadium crush

Last year's crush in Malang killed 135 people -- including more than 40 children -- after a 3-2 defeat for Arema FC by their fierce East Javan rivals Persebaya Surabaya.

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Surabaya
Thu, March 16, 2023 Published on Mar. 16, 2023 Published on 2023-03-16T12:50:48+07:00

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This picture taken on Oct. 1 shows tear gas released by police among people crowded in the stands after a football match between Arema FC and Persebaya at the Kanjuruhan stadium in Malang, East Java. This picture taken on Oct. 1 shows tear gas released by police among people crowded in the stands after a football match between Arema FC and Persebaya at the Kanjuruhan stadium in Malang, East Java. (AFP/STR)

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 court in East Java jailed a police officer for 18 months on Thursday over negligence contributing to one of the worst stadium disasters in the history of football.

Last year's crush in Malang killed 135 people -- including more than 40 children -- after a 3-2 defeat for Arema FC by their fierce East Javan rivals Persebaya Surabaya.

When supporters invaded the pitch of the Kanjuruhan Stadium, police fired tear gas, causing a deadly stampede.

The man jailed on Thursday, Hasdarmawan was a commander for East Java police's mobile brigade unit.

"(The court is) sentencing the defendant, Hasdarmawan, to one and a half year in prison," presiding judge Abu Achmad Sidqi Amsya told the court in Surabaya, East Java.

"The defendant failed to predict a situation that was actually quite easy to anticipate. There was an option not to fire (the tear gas) to respond to the supporters' violence."

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The sentence was shorter than the three years prosecutors had asked for.

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