The Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy, which is still ongoing, still raises questions about what happened and who should be responsible for it. Even though it has been almost two months, the facts have not been fully revealed.
The Criminal Law Department of the Faculty of Law, 51动漫 (FH UNAIR) held an offline group discussion forum to discuss the Kanjuruhan Stadium tragedy entitled “Criminal Responsibility for the Kanjuruhan Malang Tragedy Case”. The discussion which was held on Friday (25/11/2022) at the Pancasila Hall, Building A FH UNAIR and in collaboration with the Center for Anti-Corruption and Criminal Policy Studies FH UNAIR and Airlangga Center for Legal Drafting and Professional Development FH UNAIR invited experts from various backgrounds, including experts in psychology, criminal law, pharmacy, pure chemistry, forensics, and human rights.
Two psychologists were also speakers at the discussion forum, namely Prof. Dr. Suryanto, a psychologist from UNAIR, and Dr. Andik Matulessy, M.Sc., as Chair of the Indonesian Psychological Association. Prof. Suryanto explained that when people gather, all emotions can unite so that individual awareness will disappear and be replaced by collective consciousness. He continued that collective consciousness causes people to dare to do anything because their identity becomes anonymous and lost.
“When people get together, and then they understand each other, then the consciousness of each individual will be replaced by a collective consciousness. For example, when people throw fireworks, if you are alone, you will not dare, but because you have friends, you are brave. Their behavior rubs off on one another and is easily suggestible. Their behavior will vary if you have a collective mind, suggestible, anonymous. That is a note that might be a consideration whether these articles can be applied or not to anyone, not only officers but also spectators and supporters. I hope that the coverage in the media should be fairer. Don’t just blame everything on the security officers, but also don’t blame everything on the supporters,” explained Prof. Suryanto.
Prof. Suryanto emphasized that not all the supporters at the Kanjuruhan Stadium at that time were rioted and rioted, so it is crucial to find out who the real perpetrators were. If a chaotic situation occurs, he said, it is essential to maintain individual awareness so that the behavior of the rioting masses does not easily stimulate it. He hopes that this tragedy will not be repeated.
The following presentation comes from Dr. Andik. He said gathering masses in large numbers would facilitate the emergence of violence. This, he continued, would lead to group polarization which, if left unchecked, would make group polarity even sharper. Anyone in the mob at Kanjuruhan Stadium at that time, both supporters and police, would behave irrationally and could have injured other people. According to him, people in such conditions, let alone see weapons tend to be used.
“If it was in a large space, casualties should have been avoided. The location of the match was not suitable for such a big match. Overcapacity. So, if I look at this, it is indeed a chaotic condition. No one is the cause. Who inflicted the first, second, and so on can never be proven,” said Dr. Andik.
