Teenagers charged with Sarawak stadium rioting

KUCHING: A pair of 17-year-old twins, who are still in secondary school, were charged with rioting during a football match at the State Stadium on Merdeka Day eve.

The siblings, along with three males, were charged at a Magistrate's court here under Section 151 of the Penal Code for being a part of the unlawful assembly.

The others included two 18-year-olds and a 20-year-old youth.

All five, residents of Kuching’s surrounding suburbs of Petra Jaya and Kota Samarahan, pleaded not guilty.

Trial has been set for November.

The riots occurred after the Sarawak-Perak football match which ended in a 1-1 -1 draw but under the point scoring system, Sarawak’s dream of clinching the Malaysia Cup were dashed.

The riots caused seven police cars to be damaged, including one which was set on fire and destroyed. It took about three hours for crowds to be fully dispersed, trapping a number of spectators inside the stadium.

Police also released details of another 20 suspects. No timeframe has been set for them to surrender.

Kuching police chief ACP Roslan Bek Ahmad police had used “minimum force and maximum delay” to try to disperse the crowd. He conceded that police had not
anticipated that the rioters would gather and reorganised themselves at Zone A and B gates after exiting the stadium.

Officials were quoted in local newspapers criticising the lack of enforcers’ preparedness at the match.