Indonesia has freed a Canadian teacher who has maintained that he was wrongfully convicted in 2015 of sexually abusing children at a prestigious international school in Jakarta.
Neil Bantleman, teaching assistant Ferdinant Tjiong and five other employees at the school were convicted after allegations of abuse of kindergarten-aged children that lawyers and teaching staff at the school said were motivated by money.
The case, which became notorious for its bizarre and flimsy evidence, highlighted chronic problems in Indonesia’s justice system.
Another suspect killed himself in custody in 2015 by drinking bathroom cleaner, police said.
An Indonesia Ministry of Law and Human Rights official, who did not want to be named because of the case’s sensitivity, and one of Bantleman’s lawyers, Patra M. Zen, yesterday said that Bantleman had applied for clemency, which was granted by Indonesian President Joko Widodo last month.
Bantleman was released on June 21, the official said.
Tjiong, sentenced to 10 years in prison, has not applied for clemency and remains in prison.
A statement that the Canadian Broadcasting Corp attributed to Bantleman said: “Five years ago, I was wrongfully accused and convicted of crimes I did not commit and furthermore never occurred. I applied for clemency, which I am pleased was granted by Indonesia last month, upholding essential justice and human rights.”
Jakarta International School, which was subsequently renamed, was attended by the children of foreign diplomats, expatriates and Indonesia’s elite. It had about 2,400 students aged three to 18 from about 60 countries.
The mother of one of the three allegedly abused children sued the school in 2015 for alleged negligence and was seeking US$125 million in compensation.
The same district court that convicted Bantleman and Tjiong rejected the woman’s lawsuit on the basis that it was not proven the alleged abuse had taken place.
The original convictions were overturned, but then reinstated in 2016 by the Indonesian Supreme Court, which increased Bantleman’s 10-year sentence.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not