Granted Clemency

 Indonesia has granted clemency to a Canadian teacher

convicted of sexually abusing students,

in a case that critics say was riddled with irregularities

and threw a spotlight on the Southeast Asian country's justice system.

Neil and Indonesian teaching assistant Ferdinand

were convicted in 2014 on charges of abusing kindergarten students at the Jakarta Intercultural School,

where the children of many expatriates, diplomats and wealthy Indonesians are enrolled.

The pair have always maintained their innocence

and the lack of transparency in the case was criticised by Canada and the United States,

adding to concern about the lack of legal certainty in Southeast Asia's biggest economy.

Bantleman had been granted clemency.

"I am pleased to confirm that

my brother Neil has safely returned to Canada."

 "Five years ago I was wrongfully accused

and convicted of crimes I did not commit

and furthermore never occurred."

His clemency petition included a handwritten note in which he appealed to Joko

to allow him to return to his family in Canada to have the "opportunity

to once again become a contributing and productive member of society".

His jail sentence had been reduced from 11 years to 5 years and one month,

though he would still be required to pay a fine of 100 million rupiah ($7,100),

according to a copy of Widodo's clemency decision.

The two were originally sentenced to 10 years in jail

but were acquitted in August 2015, after nearly a year behind bars, and released.

However,  Supreme Court later overturned the acquittal,

extended their jail sentence and ordered their re-arrest,

a decision the Canadian embassy in Jakarta called unjust.

Lawyer Denny Kailimang, who represents both men, said Tjiong remained in jail because he felt sending a petition for clemency meant he would be admitting guilt.

Five janitors from the school were also jailed over the case.

Police said a sixth suspect killed himself.

Bantleman in his statement thanked family and friends around the world for their support

and "the government of Canada for their steadfast commitment to seeing us home".

"We are asking for privacy at this time

so we can reconnect with family

and move forward with our lives,". 

Lamongan Abuse

Lamongan teacher named suspect in sexual abuse case involving 30 students

An elementary school teacher in Lamongan, East Java,

He has been named a suspect in a child sexual abuse case that

allegedly involved 30 students.

the suspect, identified as SR, had allegedly been abusing his students since late last year.

“He first abused his students from October to December last year.

Most of the victims didn’t dare tell their parents about

what their teacher had done to them

because he threatened to give them bad grades,”

.

He went on to say that

SR had allegedly abused his students in the classroom and the school library.

He added that

the suspect had also reportedly harassed his students at his house under the pretense of a private tutoring session.

“Based on witness statements and the evidence we’ve gathered,

we officially established SR as a suspect in a child abuse case,”

SR was charged under Article 82 of Law No. 35/2014 on child protection.

Local police previously arrested SR following accusations of abuse against two 11-year-old female students.

“Only two out of the possible 30 victims have come to the police.

We’ve also spoken with several male students

and they confirmed [the sexual abuse],”

Alleged Consensual Relations

Three teachers in Banten face 20 years for alleged sexual abuses against students

Three teachers were recently arrested for allegedly sexually abusing three of their students,

one of them is now 21 weeks pregnant.

The alleged abuse began following intensive communications

between the three suspects (identified as DA, AS and OM) and three students since November 2018.

Junior high school students in Indonesia are typically age between 12 and 15 years old.

He claimed that he had been “dating” Ayu (not her real name),

while AS and OM claimed to have been “dating” Citra and Erna (also not their real names) respectively.

However, the police dismissed the suspects’ claims of consensual sexual relations,

since the victims had confessed...