Prosecutors appeal JIS sex abuse case acquittals, prevent Neil Bantleman from leaving the country

Canadian teacher Neil Bantleman (right) and Indonesian teaching assistant Ferdinand Tjiong (center) arrive at the South Jakarta court prior to their trial in Jakarta on December 2, 2014. Photo: AFP/Adek Berry

Prosecutors have appealed the decision to clear a Canadian and Indonesian of sexual abuse at a Jakarta international school, with the Canadian barred from leaving the country, a lawyer and the school said on Tuesday.

School administrator Neil Bantleman, who also holds British nationality, and teaching assistant Ferdinand Tjiong were jailed for 10 years each in April after being found guilty of abusing young children at the elite Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS).

However, the pair, who always maintained their innocence, were freed from prison last month after the High Court in Jakarta unexpectedly overturned their convictions on appeal, citing a lack of evidence.

But now prosecutors have filed an appeal in the Supreme Court to the High Court’s decision to acquit Bantleman, his lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea told AFP.

He said the appeal was filed two weeks ago but he was only notified on Monday.

An appeal against Tjiong’s acquittal has also been filed, JIS spokesman Rully Iskandar told AFP.

Hutapea said that Bantleman was also banned from leaving the country while the latest appeal was pending, and that he was baffled by the move and had protested to the Supreme Court.

“According to the High Court ruling he (Bantleman) is a free man, that is why he was released from prison,” Hutapea said.

Indonesian immigration office spokesman, Heru Santoso, said a six-month travel ban against Bantleman has been imposed in early September.

There is no travel ban in place for Tjiong as he is Indonesian, Iskandar said.

The case against the two was heavily criticised as fraught with irregularities and the men received strong support from the school, which has been a favourite with expatriates and wealthy Indonesians for decades, and foreign governments.

Five Indonesian cleaners were also jailed last year for committing sexual abuse at JIS.

Their lawyers claim they are innocent.

-AFP