Thread: JIS teachers detained without evidence to remain in jail in $125,000,000 rape case

^ anywhere. They knew what was coming, and they should not be hoping the Canadian embassy or anyone else is gonna help them out of this tragic situation.

Minister Dion appalled by Bantleman verdict
February 25, 2016 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

The Honourable Stéphane Dion, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement:

“The Government of Canada is deeply dismayed and shocked that the Supreme Court of Indonesia has overturned the Jakarta High Court’s acquittal of Neil Bantleman and his Indonesian co-accused, Ferdi Tjiong, based on lack of evidence.

“This decision is unjust, given the many grave irregularities throughout the various proceedings in this case and the fact that all evidence presented by the defence has systematically been rejected. Mr. Bantleman and Mr. Tjiong were not provided the opportunity to demonstrate their innocence. Despite Canada’s repeated calls for due process, this case was not handled in a fair and transparent manner.

“The outcome of this case has serious implications for Indonesia’s reputation as a safe place for Canadians to work, travel and invest as well as for Canada’s long history of cooperation with Indonesia.

“Canada will continue to raise the case of Mr. Bantleman at the highest levels. Canadian officials will continue to provide consular assistance to Mr. Bantleman.”

Minister Dion appalled by Bantleman verdict - Canada News Centre

Neil and Ferdi have now been moved to a cell on the third floor of Lapas Cipinang prison. The cell is occupied by an inmate convicted on drug charges.

The men are now able to receive meals prepared by friends and family. Neil's wife Tracy is able to visit Neil on a daily basis for up to 2 hours and bring basic supplies and food to him. She said "Neil is showing great resilience but the conditions inside this prison are deplorable and she is concerned that her husband's health could easily deteriorate rapidly."

On Monday February 29th, Canadian Ambassador Donald Bobiash visited Neil at Lapas Cipinang. He reiterated to Neil and Ferdi that the Canadian government will be 'relentless' in their efforts to bring Neil home. Then on March 4th, Neil's brother Guy and his mother Corinne met with the Parliamentary Secretary for Global Affairs Omar Alghabra in Mississauga (see attached photo credit Janet Gallucci). Mr. Alghabra reiterated Canada's commitment to Neil's case and provided assurances to the family that the government is working at the highest levels to ensure a just and speedy resolution to this case. Neil's mother gave a hand-written letter to Mr. Alghabra which she asked him to deliver to Prime Minister Trudeau, to which he obliged. She asked Prime Minister Trudeau to find a way to bring Neil and his wife, Tracy, back to the safety of Canada as soon as possible. She also commended the work of Minister Stéphane Dion and said "our family is most grateful to Minister Dion for his very strong response to Neil's re-arrest and for his efforts to get this grave injustice resolved." Guy and his partner Janet Gallucci are travelling to Ottawa this week for meetings with various MPs and the Department of Global Affairs. They will also meet with Mr. Alghabra again.

Legal process next steps: Neil's lawyers will now wait for the Supreme Court to write and deliver the full verdict to the South Jakarta District Court (SJDC). This process is expected to take up to a month. Once the verdict is delivered to the SJDC, Neil’s lawyers can access the document and begin to prepare and submit documents for a judicial review. The prosecutor can also submit appeal documents.

In his weekly column on justice and politics in Indonesia writer Kevin O'Rourke comments on the Supreme Court's decision and goes on to outline the process of the judicial review.

Kevin refers to the Supreme court ruling of Bantleman and Tjiong's case as "a victory that defies logic, offends justice, damages the cause of child protection, and undermines investor confidence at a time when economic opportunities were improving."

He goes on to explain that "Bantleman and Tjiong will have one more opportunity for an extraordinary appeal, or ‘judicial review’ (peninjauan kembali, or ‘PK’). This instrument examines the procedures and circumstances of the decision-making in the three verdicts to date. Typically, filing a PK requires either the introduction of new evidence (‘novum’), or the identification of error or neglect on the part of judges. Given the neglected evidence and irregularities of the case, ample grounds exist for initiating a PK, which would then undergo consideration by a Supreme Court panel. However, the time frame for bringing about a PK may be lengthy, perhaps over a year.

Moreover, given the course of matters thus far, the prospects for overturning the case will be uncertain. And until then, Bantleman and Tjiong will face grim conditions, as convicted child rapists in Cipinang" Kevin O'Rourke Reformasi Weekly.

JIS Civil case update: The $125 million USD dollar civil lawsuit was dismissed by the South Jakarta District Court on August 10th, 2015. An appeal was filed by the plaintiff, albeit after the deadline for appeal, but was still accepted by the High Court. The civil suit is now being reviewed by the High Court and a decision on this case is pending.

Neil continues to be held in a very unsanitary and dangerous area of Cipinang Prison in Jakarta, Indonesia. Continued efforts by Neil and the support team on the ground in Indonesia are focused on getting Neil into a safer environment while we work on gaining Neil's ultimate freedom. "This move will be paramount to ensuring Neil's physical safety and continued good health for the coming weeks and months."
The efforts to gain Neil and his co-accused, their release continues on three fronts.
The Judicial Review will be pursued based on Neil's legal team documenting issues with evidence during the various trials. In addition, a review of the legal process that has rendered the various guilt verdicts will also be addressed. The perfection of this review document can not be completed until the full written decision of the Supreme Court is received and reviewed by Neil's legal team. This is expected to happen by mid-April, with the review document filed by the end of May.

Diplomatic efforts by the Canadian Government continues in conjunction with efforts of other countries, including the U.S., British and Australia. Neil's brother Guy was in Ottawa last week and held meetings with numerous MPs and the Department of Global Affairs. "We are pleased to finally see the support Neil's has deserved all along being provided by the Government and Global Affairs. There are a number of initiatives being pursued involving all levels of the Government, from both sides of the House. These diplomatic actions are imperative to achieving Neil's release." Guy is scheduled to return to Ottawa next week for further meetings.

Finally, discussions are ongoing in relation to retaining counsel in Canada to assist in a judicial/political solution that will focus on Neil, Ferdi and the five cleaners still being held. "It is very important to recognize all of the lives impacted by this nightmare, and the will of the group is to ensure that justice is delivered to all involved".

Thanks for the update, KW.

Originally Posted by kingwilly

Legal process next steps: Neil's lawyers will now wait for the Supreme Court to write and deliver the full verdict to the South Jakarta District Court (SJDC). This process is expected to take up to a month. Once the verdict is delivered to the SJDC, Neil’s lawyers can access the document and begin to prepare and submit documents for a judicial review. The prosecutor can also submit appeal documents.

Jesus Christ, how many appeals and processes are there?

Originally Posted by Black Heart

how many appeals

One.

and possibly a presidential pardon or some such. Same as I posted above in reply to you a week ago.

Forensic Psychologist: No Evidence of Sexual Violence in JIS Case



JAKARTA – From a forensic psychology perspective, evidence in the trial for the alleged sexual abuse case involving three former Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS) kindergarten students did not indicate sexual violence. Because the evidence revealed during the trial was not that of sexual violence.

This opinion was expressed by Forensic Psychology expert from the University of Indonesia, Reza Indragiri Amriel. Reza has meticulously examined documents from the JIS case trial to learn about efforts to prove that sexual violence had indeed taken place.

"I pored over the documents from the trial, and did not find any evidence of sexual violence among them," Reza said, Friday, (11/3/2016) in Jakarta.

The case of alleged sex abuse at JIS has implicated six cleaners who worked at JIS. They are Virgiawan Amin, Agun Iskandar, Zainal Abidin, Syahrial, the late Azwar, and Afrischa Setyani, who were accused of sexual abuse committed against MAK. Aside from that, accusations were also made against two JIS teachers Neil Bantleman and Ferdinand Tjiong, with MAK, DA and AL as victims. According to the parents who made the report, the abuse took place sometime btw December 2013 through March 2014.
Victims of sexual violence, Reza continues, have specific characteristics. But as these characteristics can also be evident in non-sexual violence (victims), one needs to distinguish whether they are the result of sexual violence or other types of violence. "To be able to identify whether there has been sexual violence and (to determine) the type of violence committed against the child, an examination conducted from the forensic medicine perspective is necessary. Based on the documents I saw, I believe no evidence of sexual violence exists." he reiterated.

Thus, the characteristics or symptoms initially believed to be the effects of sexual violence are not specific characteristics or symptoms. "From there, I frankly disagree with the Supreme Court's verdict. However, I respect the Justices' decision. (What is left) is the Judicial Review, additional evidence hopefully will be able to better reveal what really happened," he explained.

Meanwhile, in response to the Supreme Court's ruling, the legal representative of the two JIS teachers Patra M Zen revealed that in October 2015, MAK was declared to have never contracted a sexually transmitted disease by a clinic in Belgium. His party is currently in the process of obtaining the medical record from Belgium because it will be treated as new evidence (novum) to file for a Judicial Review (JR) to the Supreme Court (SC).

"This information was obtained from a Canadian journalist who conducted an investigation and was able to discover evidence from October, if (I'm) not mistaken, the year 2015. The child was re-examined there, the results came back negative and we are currently trying to obtain (the said results) as evidence for Judicial Review," said Patra to the media, Friday (26/2).

On February 24, 2016, the SC decided to annul the decision of a DKI Jakarta High Court which had previously acquitted Neil and Ferdi, who had been reported by parents of MAK, DA and AL. According to Supreme Court's Panel of Judges led by Artidjo Alkostar, the legal implementation of the DKI Jakarta High Court was flawed, adding the sentence to 11 years of imprisonment.

In fact, DKI Jakarta High Court had already made the evaluation that the South Jakarta District Court's considerations were inaccurate because they were based on the statements of underage victims and expert witness(es). Moreover, there are a few irregularities in the JIS Case. One of which has to do with the examination results which were made as the ground for indictments made by the Public Prosecutor. DKI Jakarta High Court then overturned the 10-year verdict handed down by the South Jakarta District Court.

From the onset, public opinion mounted against JIS, and the case had a tendency to be forced, in the face of overwhelming sexual abuse allegations agains the school. One of the irregularities was that Azwar died while the investigation by Regional Police Polda Metro Jaya was underway, he was found with facial contusions and fractured lip. Investigators coerced confessions out of Virgiawan Amin, Agun Iskandar, Zainal Abidin, Syahrial and the late Azwar while they were detained, involving violence. The case made against two JIS teachers Neil Bantleman and Ferdinand Tjiong was also rife with irregularities, particularly as the two were elementary school teachers and had never met the three children claimed as victims.

Psikolog Forensik: Tidak Ada Bukti Kekerasan Seksual Pada Kasus JIS - Tribunnews.com

The family of a Canadian teacher jailed in Indonesia says it will take another six to eight months before he can feasibly be freed.

Last month Indonesia's high court overturned Neil Bantleman's acquittal of charges of sexually abusing children and he was put back in prison.

Bantleman has maintained his innocence since he was accused in 2014 of abusing three children at an international school in Jakarta.

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Bantleman's brother Guy has spent the last few days in Ottawa meeting with government officials and MPs.

Guy Bantleman says that the latest information from Indonesia is that it could take six to eight months for the judicial process to move forward.

He says they expected to receive the judge's written decision on why the acquittal was overturned more than ten days ago, and they still haven't heard anything.

Guy Bantleman says Canadian government officials are looking at ways to bring his brother home sooner, both through legal and diplomatic means


Canadian jailed in Indonesia could face 6-8 month wait for freedom | CTV News

Bantleman has been released.

https://www.pattayamail.com/worldnew...ex-case-259354

^ a snippet from the above article:



So, there was no proof of a crime, but several people were convicted of the crime?

This yet again highlights the risk all those who live/work in a third world country, where rule of law and justice are alien concepts and individuals are subject to the whims of government/judicial collusion and corruption or mob rule.

After five years in the clink Neil is out. (And the cleaners) but Ferdi refused to sign the form basically admitting guilt and so is still in jail.


Canadian teacher had maintained he was innocent of child sex abuse charges

Dan Taekema, Katie Simpson · CBC News · Posted: Jul 11, 2019 3:53 PM ET | Last Updated: July 12



Neil Bantleman back home in Canada with his wife Tracy.(Heather Van Sickle)A Canadian teacher imprisoned in Indonesia since 2014 after being convicted on charges of sexually assaulting students at a school in Jakarta has returned home, CBC News has confirmed.
Neil Bantleman said in a media statement today that he has been granted clemency by the Indonesian government. He's been back home in Ontario since the end of June. His family has requested that media outlets respect his privacy.
"Five years ago, I was wrongfully accused and convicted of crimes I did not commit and furthermore never occurred," Bantleman said in the statement. "I applied for clemency, which I am pleased was granted by Indonesia last month, upholding essential justice and human rights."


https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/nei...rges-1.5208676