The Bandung Police have arrested 16 people in connection with the death of Persija Jakarta fan Haringga Sirla, who was violently attacked and killed by a group of Persib Bandung fans in the West Java capital yesterday.
“Sixteen people are in custody while eight have been named suspects,” Bandung Police Spokesman M Yoris Maulana told reporters today, as quoted by Kompas.
The eight suspects, whose ages ranged from 17 to 40, were charged with aggravated assault leading to murder, which is punishable by up to at least five years in prison.
“Some of them [attacked Haringga] using their fists and feet, some used wooden blocks and helmets,” Yoris added.
Explaining the latest findings from the police’s investigation into the killing, Yoris said that 23-year-old Haringga went to Bandung yesterday to watch his team, Persija, take on their traditional rivals Persib. Once in Bandung, he met up with his friend, a resident of the city, and went to the Gelora Bandung Lautan Api (GBLA) stadium.
Once there, the two crossed paths with a group of Persib fans who were doing a “sweeping” patrol around the stadium demanding that people show them their ID cards to make sure there were no Persija fans in the area. Haringga was the unfortunate Persija fan netted in that sweep.
“They ganged up on the victim until he died at the location,” Yoris said.
The Bandung Police are urging others who may be responsible for the deadly assault on Haringga to turn themselves in.
Videos of the assault on Haringga have gone viral online. In disturbing clip, Haringga is seen being savagely beaten to a bloody pulp by Persib supporters — several small children included — as they chant songs telling him to “go home”.
Since 2012, seven people from both sides of the Persija-Persib rivalry have been killed in violent attacks by rival supporters.
