Indonesia court overturns controversial school abuse convictions

FILE – In this April 2, 2015, file photo, Canadian teacher Neil Bantleman, center, is escorted by police prior to the start of his trial at South Jakarta District Court in Jakarta, Indonesia. AP

An Indonesian court has overturned convictions against a Canadian and an Indonesian jailed for 10 years each for sexual abuse at a prestigious Jakarta international school, a lawyer said Friday, in a case criticized as being fraught with irregularities.

“I’m elated,” said Tracy Bantleman, the wife of school administrator Neil Bantleman, who also holds British nationality. He was jailed with Indonesian teaching assistant Ferdinand Tjiong in April after they were found guilty of abusing three young children.

The pair maintained their innocence and received backing from the Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS) and parents at the institution, with supporters accusing police of a botched investigation and alleging that the men’s trials were unfair.

The abuse allegations rocked an institution that had been a favorite with expatriates and wealthy Indonesians in the capital for more than 60 years.

News of the Jakarta High Court’s decision to rule in favor of the men’s appeals came just days after a $125-million sex abuse lawsuit against the school was dismissed. Supporters believe the decision to pursue the men was linked to that suit, which was brought by the mother of an alleged victim.

“Thank God for this wonderful news,” lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea told reporters at South Jakarta District Court, where the men were convicted, after receiving news of their successful appeals.

“This is certainly great news for the entire JIS community and the two teachers, Neil and Ferdi, and their families. They deserve their freedom after all the suffering and pain that they have experienced as victims of baseless accusations.”

The lawyer, who was picking up documents to process the men’s release, said he hoped they would be freed later Friday.

School spokesman Rully Iskandar added: “JIS has finally received justice.”

As well as Monday’s decision by the South Jakarta District Court to throw out the multi-million-dollar civil suit, the men’s case received a boost last month when the Singapore High Court ruled in favor of the pair in a defamation case against the mother of one of the alleged victims for making untrue sex abuse claims.

Long-running scandal 

The scandal began last year with claims that cleaners committed abuse at the school—previously known as the Jakarta International School—before allegations were levelled at Bantleman and Tjiong.

Five cleaners were jailed in December over claims of sexual abuse and remain in prison. Their lawyers claim they are innocent, and several who originally admitted to abuse recanted their confessions, claiming they were beaten by police.

The expatriate community in Jakarta was initially shocked at the claims of abuse, but horror quickly transformed into concern at what supporters say was an unfair attempt to target Bantleman and Tjiong by Indonesia’s notoriously corrupt police and judicial system.

The Canadian and British governments expressed concern after the verdicts in April, while the US ambassador to Indonesia Robert Blake said the United States was “deeply disappointed with this outcome” and it raised questions about the rule of law in Indonesia.

Despite the concerns about the case, the prosecution insisted that the testimony of the alleged victims was the truth and that their claims were backed up by evidence from medical examinations.

The defense pointed to flawed evidence, however, in particular a claim by one boy that Bantleman inserted a “magic stone” into him to stop him feeling pain.