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Indonesia’s Top Court Rules Against Educators in Sex Assault Case Indonesia’s Top Court Rules Against Educators in Sexual Assault Case
(about 5 hours later)
JAKARTA, Indonesia — The Indonesian Supreme Court has overturned a lower court’s decision to free two educators who had been convicted of sexually assaulting kindergartners at a prestigious international school, a court spokesman said Thursday, the latest twist in a contentious case that the school and the men’s lawyers say was based on false accusations. JAKARTA, Indonesia — The Indonesian Supreme Court has overturned a lower court’s decision to free two educators who had been convicted of sexually assaulting kindergartners at a prestigious international school, a court spokesman said on Thursday, the latest twist in a contentious case that the school and the men’s lawyers say was based on false accusations.
The case against the educators, Neil Bantleman, a Canadian administrator at the Jakarta Intercultural School, and Ferdinand Tjiong, an Indonesian teaching assistant there, has highlighted international concerns about the competence of Indonesia’s judicial system. The case against the educators, Neil Bantleman, a Canadian administrator at the Jakarta Intercultural School, and Ferdinand Tjiong, an Indonesian teaching assistant there, has highlighted international concerns about the competence of the country’s judicial system. The United States ambassador said on Thursday that he was “shocked and disappointed” by the ruling.
The Supreme Court reinstated the convictions and 10-year prison sentences that a district court in Jakarta, the capital, handed down in April, and it added a year to each man’s sentence, said the court spokesman, Suhadi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. The court reinstated the convictions and 10-year prison sentences that a district court in Jakarta, the capital, handed down in April, and it added a year to each man’s sentence, said the court spokesman, Mr. Suhadi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
“They have been proven guilty, which follows the initial verdict of the South Jakarta District Court,” Mr. Suhadi said.“They have been proven guilty, which follows the initial verdict of the South Jakarta District Court,” Mr. Suhadi said.
Mr. Bantleman and Mr. Tjiong, who spent 13 months in jail during a highly publicized police investigation and criminal trial, have vehemently maintained their innocence, and the school, attended by students from more than 60 countries, including the children of Western diplomats and wealthy Indonesians, insists that no children were sexually assaulted. Mr. Bantleman and Mr. Tjiong, who spent 13 months in jail during a highly publicized police investigation and criminal trial, have vehemently maintained their innocence. The school, whose students come from more than 60 countries and include the children of Western diplomats and wealthy Indonesians, insists that no children were sexually assaulted.
Relatives of the three boys named as victims in the case asserted that the two men, along with the school’s principal, had drugged and raped the boys and other students in the school’s administrative offices in early 2014, and that they had videotaped the assaults. No such videotapes were ever found, and the Indonesian police did not question any of the employees who were posted in the administrative offices, which the school says are full of staff members and students throughout the day. Relatives of the three boys named as victims in the case asserted that the two men, along with the school’s principal, had drugged and raped the boys and other students in the school’s administrative offices in early 2014, and that they had videotaped the assaults. No such videotapes were ever found, and the Indonesian police did not question any of the employees who were posted in the administrative offices, which the school says are full of staff members and students throughout the day. The principal was never arrested or charged.
Mr. Bantleman and Mr. Tjiong have been free since August, when the Jakarta High Court overturned their convictions and ordered their release. But they were barred from leaving Indonesia after the attorney general’s office appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court, meaning that Mr. Bantleman could not return to Canada.Mr. Bantleman and Mr. Tjiong have been free since August, when the Jakarta High Court overturned their convictions and ordered their release. But they were barred from leaving Indonesia after the attorney general’s office appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court, meaning that Mr. Bantleman could not return to Canada.
His brother Guy Bantleman, who has acted as a spokesman for the family, said by email from Canada that Mr. Tjiong had been taken into police custody on Thursday morning. He said that Neil Bantleman was not in Jakarta and that the family was in discussions with the Canadian Embassy about his return to the capital and possible arrest. His brother Guy Bantleman, who has acted as a spokesman for the family, said by email from Canada that Mr. Tjiong had been taken into police custody Thursday morning. He said that Neil Bantleman was not in Jakarta and that the family was in discussions with the Canadian Embassy about his return to the capital and possible arrest.
“Information is limited on what the Supreme Court reviewed — the panel was only named on Monday of this week — and why they made their decision,” Guy Bantleman said. “We are still gathering information on the decision.”“Information is limited on what the Supreme Court reviewed — the panel was only named on Monday of this week — and why they made their decision,” Guy Bantleman said. “We are still gathering information on the decision.”
He said that the defendants had been notified of the ruling on Wednesday and that their legal team would file for a judicial review of the ruling, which would be considered by a separate panel at the Supreme Court.He said that the defendants had been notified of the ruling on Wednesday and that their legal team would file for a judicial review of the ruling, which would be considered by a separate panel at the Supreme Court.
Attempts to reach the defendants’ lawyers were not immediately successful. Patra M. Zen, a lawyer for Mr. Bantleman and Mr. Tjiong, said the legal team would ask the court to clarify whether the panel had been examining the case only since Monday.
“We’re surprised by the decision,” he said. “This is a complicated case, and they should examine very carefully and comprehensively, and that takes time. So how long did they examine the case? A couple of hours? A day?”
The allegations of abuse at the school surfaced in early 2014, when six janitors there, employed by an outside contractor, were arrested and accused of sexually assaulting children. That sent shock waves through the capital’s expatriate community, but the case made national headlines after relatives of the children began accusing educators of having participated. Mr. Bantleman and Mr. Tjiong were arrested in July 2014.
Doubts soon rose about the plausibility of the allegations, including the unlikelihood of foreign educators and Indonesian janitors abusing children together in crowded school facilities in daylight. Defense lawyers say that the police ignored basic exculpatory evidence during their subsequent investigation.
One of the six janitors committed suicide soon after his arrest. The other five were convicted in December 2014 and sentenced to up to eight years in prison. They say they were tortured into confessing. The Jakarta High Court and the Supreme Court rejected the janitors’ appeals last year, but Mr. Patra, who also serves as their lawyer, said they would file for a judicial review.
The school, formerly known as the Jakarta International School, continues to deny that any abuse occurred. “We find it hard to fathom how baseless accusations with no solid and credible evidence could result in such an unjust verdict,” its director, Sinta Sirait, said on Thursday in a statement.
The United States ambassador to Indonesia, Robert O. Blake Jr., was also critical of the ruling. “It is not clear what evidence the Supreme Court used to overturn the High Court’s decision,” he said in a statement, adding, “The outcome of the legal process will impact international views about the rule of law in Indonesia.”
Shortly after Mr. Bantleman’s and Mr. Tjiong’s convictions were overturned in August, a panel of judges at the South Jakarta District Court dismissed a $125 million lawsuit brought against the school by the parents of one of the named victims, who said their child, then 6, had been sexually assaulted by educators and janitors. In July, the school and the three educators won a defamation lawsuit in Singapore against another boy’s mother, who had sent emails and text messages to other students’ parents accusing staff members of sexual assault.