The police chief of Malang, the city in East Java where at least 125 people were killed in football riots in a stadium this weekend, has been fired. A spokesman for the national police announced this.
Nine other officers have been suspended. During the riots, the police used tear gas to evict fans, among other things.
“At the direction of the national police chief, the East Java police chief has suspended nine officers. All of them are under investigation,” the spokesman said. A total of 28 officers were questioned on suspicion of “ethical violations”.
The riots started after a match between the clubs Arema FC from Malang and Persebaya Surabaya from Surabaya. After the club from Malang lost 2-3, thousands of supporters of both teams stormed the field. Dozens of people died on the field, police said. The others later died in hospitals. Most would have died from a lack of oxygen. Among the people who died were 32 children. In addition to the dead, at least 323 people were also injured.
Indonesia’s security minister promised Monday that he would assemble an independent investigation team to find out what happened and help find the instigators of the riots. He also called on the police to identify and punish those responsible for the disturbances. He also said he hopes the police will reconsider their own “security procedures”.
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