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Families of victims of Nabire boxing riot not to press charges: Police
Papua Police have said that the families of those who died and sustained injuries in rioting during a boxing match in Nabire on July 14 would not press charges
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apua Police have said that the families of those who died and sustained injuries in rioting during a boxing match in Nabire on July 14 would not press charges.
According to the police, the families signed statements confirming that they would not file lawsuits following the bloody riot.
'All parties accept that that the incident was a [predestined] calamity,' Papua Police chief spokesman Sr. Comr. I Gede Sumerta Jaya said as quoted by Antara news agency on Monday, adding that the families signed the statements without any coercion .
Following the signing of the statements, according to Sumerta, the police postponed naming the committee head of the boxing tournament, Nabartus Yeima, a suspect in the incident.
Seventeen people ' including a pregnant woman ' were trampled to death and 39 others sustained injuries as some 1,500 spectators scrambled for the door at the overcrowded Kota Lama stadium to escape the riot, which broke out after the final match of the Nabire Regent Cub boxing championship.
An investigation by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) concluded on Sunday that the Youth and Sports Ministry was responsible for the deadly stampede by failing to provide sufficient information about safety standards and regulations in sporting events. (hrl)
