Some 50 victims’ family members and survivors of Kanjuruhan stampede that killed 135 people, including 43 children, at Malang’s football stadium in East Java Province, on Oct 1, visited the Police’s Crime Investigation Department (Bareskrim) here on Friday, to seek justice.
They were accompanied by lawyer Anjar Nawan Yusky and Andy Irfan, secretary general of KontraS (Commission of Disappeared and Victims of Violence).
“(We are) very disappointed. We consider (the handling of the stampede case) is not professional, not accountable, and has no justice for the victims,” Andy Irfan said.
Former East Java Police Chief Inspector General Nico Afinta and former Malang Police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Ferli Hidayathave supposed to be responsible for the deadly stampede, were not legally processed, he cited as an example of their disappointment.
Lawyer Yusky said the victims’ legal team focused on three groups that were respectively responsible for the death of people, victims’ injuries, and for violence against children.
“This is a crime. It’s violation of the Child Protection Act. This is one of the materials in our report, which is completely different from what has been going on (or legal process) in East Java’s Police in Malang so far,” he said.
He also said the handling of the case by the East Java and Malang Police is prone to a conflict of interest.
Hence, the Kanjuruhan stampede’s survivors and victims’ relatives urged Bareskrim to take over the legal handling of the case, particularly because one of the officers responsible for the tragedy is a two-star general.
While being received by Brigadier General Daniel Tifaona of Bareskrim, they also mentioned about the use of tear gas by the police that triggered the stampede at the Kanjuruhan stadium following a football match between Arema FC of Malang and Persebaya of Surabaya.
They also demanded that the National Police Headquarters should handle the Kanjuruhan tragedy, similar to the handling of the Ferdy Sambo (FS) case, that has received attention of the central government, although the victim is only one, compared to 135 dead victims of the Kanjuruhan stampede, Yusky said.
“Our hope is that Bareskrim handles it more optimally. Earlier, we have given input that the Kanjuruhan tragedy must be handled optimally like (the way they) handle the FS case,” he said.
Inspector Geneal Ferdy Sambo, former head of the National Police Internal Affairs Division, and his wife are currently being tried for killing his assistant, Brigadier Joshua.
In addition to visits to Bareskrim, the victims’ relatives and survivor of Kanjuruhan tragedy also visited the Komnas HAM (the National Commission of Human Rights), KPAI (the Commission of Child Protection), Ombudsman, and other relevant institutions, to seek justice.
The police have detained six suspects comprising three police officers and three civilians, regarding the Kanjuruhan stampede that also injured hunders of Arema supporters.
Source: Antara News