Child Sex Abuse in South Asia > Lao Man arrested in Thailand for producing CSAM; Indonesian Baby Market - $600 a kid

 

Easy money, if you have no morals or fear of God. But this man's life is ruined, and he's only 20 years old.

Lao Man Arrested in Thailand for Producing,

Selling Child Abuse Content

Thai police arrested a 20-year-old Lao national on 6 July at a resort in Muang District, Surin Province, for allegedly producing and distributing child sexual abuse material through paid online groups.

Officers from Thailand’s Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division (ATPD) apprehended the suspect, identified as Chaipol (surname withheld), following a months-long investigation into two suspicious X (formerly Twitter) accounts—“ภานุวัฒน์73k” and “บานานา73k.” 

Authorities say Chaipol used these accounts to promote explicit content involving boys under 18 and directed followers to private Line chat groups, where he charged THB 139 (USD 4.27) for regular access and THB 259 (USD 8) for premium membership.

Undercover officers infiltrated the groups and discovered over 500 paying members. Inside the chats, they found numerous videos featuring minors in sexually explicit situations. Investigators traced the content back to Chaipol, who was found hiding at the resort.

During the raid, police seized his mobile phone, which contained dozens of illicit videos, along with sex toys, bank records, and clothing used during the recordings. Some clips were reportedly filmed in public locations.

Chaipol admitted to filming the videos himself and distributing them through Line groups for nearly a year, earning over THB 100,000 (USD 3073.14). He also confessed to entering Thailand illegally and said he had contracted a serious illness from unprotected sex during production.

He now faces multiple charges, including possession and distribution of child pornography for commercial gain, uploading obscene materials to publicly accessible computer systems, and illegal entry into Thailand. He has been handed over to the ATPD for further legal proceedings.

Thailand enforces strict laws against child pornography under Sections 287/1 and 287/2 of its Criminal Code. Possession can result in up to 5 years in prison, while distribution carries penalties of up to 7 years. Production or trade may lead to 10 years behind bars, with harsher punishments for organized or cross-border offenses. 

13 people arrested in Indonesia on suspicion of trafficking babies

By Paul Godfrey

   

A man and 12 women allegedly involved in smuggling babies-to-order were under arrest in Indonesia on Friday after police moved to shut down a transnational human trafficking operation. File Photo by Mast Irham/EPA-EFE

July 18 (UPI) -- Indonesian police said Friday that they have broken up a baby-to-order human trafficking ring in West Java that allegedly sold infants for which its members paid as little as $600. All but one of the 13 suspects detained were women.

As many as 25 babies were produced to order and sold to clients, some of them overseas, since the gang began operating in 2023, with police saying in a post on X that they were hunting for three other suspects who remained at large.

West Java police told the BBC they had rescued six babies, all aged about 12 months, who were about to be trafficked from two locations near Jakarta and in West Kalimantan.

Babies were purchased while still in the womb from biological mothers who had been recruited by the gang and trafficked via a network of main agents, caregivers, intermediaries and forgery specialists who created fake birth certificates, family ID cards and passports.

Each suspect performed a specific role in the criminal enterprise, police said.

"Within this network, newborn babies were handed over to intermediaries who were paid between $614 to $978 per baby. The funds were then distributed by suspect A to the biological mother and other perpetrators. Afterward, the babies were cared for by a caregiver named YN, who received a salary of $153 plus an additional $61.41 for the babies' needs," a statement said.

Babies aged 2 to 3 months were then sent to Jakarta and subsequently trafficked across the Sea of Java to Pontianak on the island of Borneo "for further processing by other suspects," according to police.

Once in Pontainak, a suspect police identified only as "AHA" falsified key documents and recruited "fake parents," who were paid $400 to include babies' identities in their family cards.

With all the required paperwork and documents in place, were illegally adopted and sent abroad, mostly to Singapore.

West Java Police's director of general criminal investigation, Surawan, said babies' nationalities had been switched and that they were urgently trying to track down their passports so that they could find the adoptive "parents" in Singapore and have them arrested.

"We will cross-check the data with the babies who departed, so we know exactly who departed, who accompanied them, when they departed, and who the adopters there are," he said.

Surawan said their investigation indicated that biological parents handed over their children in return for payment, often because they lacked the financial wherewithal to raise them, but some were "reserved while still in the womb."

Parents could also face child protection and human trafficking offenses if it were proved they had made an agreement with the trafficking gang.

West Java is one of the poorest regions of Indonesia, with government figures showing more than 3.6 million people living below the poverty line.

Bandung city deputy mayor Erwin, called for tight monitoring by hospital maternity units of mothers immediately after giving birth.

"Security officers must be more vigilant. Procedures for naming babies, assigning identification tags, and monitoring people entering and leaving must also be reviewed," said Erwin.

However, child protection authorities warned that an abortion ban and conservative social values in the predominantly Muslim nation meant women in desperate straits were easy prey for trafficking gangs.

Indonesian Child Protection Commissioner Ai Rahmayanti said women made pregnant through rape, having suffered a relationship breakup, or simply with an unwanted pregnancy were at risk.

Police stressed the investigation was ongoing, and that they believed the trafficking operation was likely much more extensive than what they had uncovered to date.

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Young Indonesian Woman Caned for Getting ‘Too Close’ to her Boyfriend

In countries where Muslims are a strong majority it is just a matter of time, I believe, before Sharia becomes the law of the land. In this portion of Indonesia it has been so for 15 years. My fear is that it will spread to the rest of the country. Muslims in Banda Aceh must be confused as to why God would allow a devastating tsunami to destroy more than a quarter million people and leave two-thirds of a million homeless just 3 years after adopting Sharia. One would think God would honour such a commitment if He actually wanted it. 

Does Sharia honour God? Can morality be legislated? Only the appearance of morality can be legislated which means immorality does not improve, it simply goes underground. Jesus understood that when He told us that the 'Law' says, 'You shall not commit adultery'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Morality is a function of conscience, and conscience is attached to 'the highest (morality) that you know'. If you have been taught high moral values you will be a moral person. But those values must be real, not superficial as Sharia teaches.

Moral behaviour is only holy when it is chosen by the individual not by the state.

A 20-year old Muslim woman gets caned after being caught in close proximity with her boyfriend in Banda Aceh on October 31, 2016. © Chaideer Mahyuddin / AFP

A 20-year-old woman has been publicly caned for getting “too close” to her boyfriend in the Indonesian province of Aceh – the latest such punishment in the conservative region, which implements Sharia law in full.

The woman was one of five people to receive a caning on Monday in front of a crowd outside the Masjid Al-Muttaqin mosque in the regional capital of Banda Aceh. The others included her 21-year-old boyfriend and three others who were accused of gambling.

After being read out their offenses, those judged “guilty” were brought on stage to receive their punishment before a crowd of hundreds. The mosque is located next to a busy market so the spectacle attracted many onlookers who were simply doing their shopping.

“It’s not to be laughed at or watched. But this is a lesson for us all to enforce complete Islamic law in in Banda Aceh,” a local official, Bakhtiar, said before the punishment, local media reported.

“If there are people who do not agree with Islamic law, please get out of Aceh,” he added.

Well, more than a quarter million people got out of Aceh in one terrible day. Was that a judgement? Or was it perhaps mercy? Did God remove those people from an evil, insane society for their sakes?

The couple were convicted of a charge known as “khalwat,” which is defined in the legal code as “any activity carried out by two or more individuals of opposite sex who are not bound as a family nor legally bound under marriage.” This can range from sexual intercourse before marriage to merely being in close proximity or holding hands.

A Muslim woman gets caned 23 strokes after being caught standing in close proximity with her boyfriend in Banda Aceh on October 17, 2016. © Chaideer Mahyuddin / AFP

Earlier in the month on October 13, people were similarly flogged, one of whom was a 21-year-old-woman who apparently stood too close to her boyfriend. Another woman was temporarily reprieved because she was pregnant, but officials confirmed she would be punished after giving birth.

Although Indonesia is officially a secular state, a number of provinces enjoy significant autonomy from the central government. Of these, Aceh is the only region to apply Islamic Sharia law in full, since special autonomy legislation was passed in 2001. The strict application of the Islamic codes means relatively innocuous behavior such as touching, hugging and kissing between unmarried couples is forbidden. Homosexuality and drinking alcohol are also prohibited.

Australian Robert Ellis Jailed for 15 Years for Sexually Abusing Children in Bali

By ABC Indonesia correspondent Samantha Hawley

    PHOTO: Robert Ellis stood trial for abusing the girls aged between seven and 17.
    (ABC: Samantha Hawley)

Australian man Robert Andrew Fiddes Ellis has been jailed for 15 years for sexually abusing 11 young girls in Bali

Key points:

Robert Ellis stood trial for abusing girls aged between seven and 17 over a two-year period
He allegedly lured children with money and presents
His lawyers say they will appeal sentence

The 70-year-old, originally from Melbourne, stood trial for abusing the girls aged between seven and 17 over a two-year period from 2014.

It was alleged he lured his victims with money and presents and then took them to his Bali home and bathed and sexually assaulted them.

"I have nothing more to say, I'm sorry," Ellis said to the waiting press before being led from the court.

"Well, I am 70 now, 15 years would take me to 85. I don't know if I'll live that long."

Judge Wayan Sukanila said Ellis' crime could stain Bali's image.

"What he did can ruin the future of his child victims, they are the nation's asset to build Indonesia one day," the judge said.

"And secondly, his crime can stain Indonesia's tourism image and especially Bali."

With all the pedophile sex tourists these days it might increase tourism to Bali. Not the kind of tourists you really want, mind you.

Ellis' lawyers say they will appeal the sentence.

Last week, in a bizarre press conference held at the court, Ellis insisted on his innocence, claiming he paid his victims "generously" to give them mandi — the Indonesian word for bath.

"Try and interview the girls if you can, try and interview the girls and see if they want me in here being punished," he said.

Not much hope for someone that shallow and narcissistic. He thinks he was doing them a favour.

Indonesia Approves Chemical Castration, Capital Punishment for Pedophiles

© Darren Whiteside / Reuters

Convicted pedophiles in Indonesia could be subjected to chemical castration after the government approved a set of laws to better protect minors against predators. Additional punishments would include harsher prison terms and the introduction of tracking chips.

Despite a strong objection to the introduction of new punishments by the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), lawmakers from ten other parties represented in the government went on to adopt the regulation in lieu of law (Perppu) following President Joko Widodo proposed changes to existing law in May.

The Perppu adopted by the House of Representative allows judges to punish child sex offenders at their discretion. The amendments were included in the wake of the gang-rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl on the largest island of Sumatra in April, after which seven teenage boys were sentenced to 10 years in prison each – a punishment many felt was too lenient.

The changes introduce a 10-year minimum sentence for child sex crimes and expand punishments for sex offenders to include death sentences for convicted pedophiles. The possibility of chemical castrations is also on the list. Newly released prisoners will also be embedded with a microchip for tracking.

Chemical castration is the use of medication, such as injections or oral pills, to eventually null someone’s sex drive by reducing testosterone by injecting convicts with female hormones. It is currently used in Poland, some states in the US, including California, and on a voluntary basis in Russia.

Besides the two parties that opposed the amendments, the new measures have also been criticized by the Indonesian Doctors Association (IDI) on the grounds that such a punishment violates the Hippocratic Oath.

The National Commission on Violence Against Women (NCW) also voiced objections demanding that measures be re-evaluated each year to assess their effectiveness.

“Other countries that have chemical castration have not seen a reduction in sexual crime against children,” NCW said according to the BBC. “Also it’s a very expensive procedure and what we should be spending and investing our money in is services to support and help the victims.”

No word here on whether or not chemical castration can be used on those already imprisoned on charges of pedophilia, or on whether they could be used on non-nationals like Neil Bantleman, the Canadian school teacher who was rail-roaded by a pathetic third-world court system for crimes that never happened. 

Calls for Case into Child Sex Abuse Scandal at Prestigious Jakarta School to be Reopened

Number of Child Trafficking Victims Increases to 148: Police

The original story of the arrests may be found below

News Desk
The Jakarta Post


In crisis: Victim numbers in a recently uncovered child prostitution ring have risen to 148.(Shutterstock/File)

The number of victims in a recently discovered underage male prostitution ring for male clients has increased to 148, from the 103 previously reported, where most are under 17 years of age, a police officer has said.

“Still only three suspects have been named in the case. The number of victims we have identified has increased to 148, however,” Brig. Gen. Agung Setya, the special economic crimes unit director at the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), said as quoted by kompas.com in Jakarta on Monday.

He said 45 children the police further revealed as “victims” were believed to be protégés of AR, one of the three suspects—U and E are the other two.

Agung further said the number of U’s victims identified so far only stood at four. Meanwhile, E had both helped AR to recruit children and prepare accounts to receive client payments. Suspect E reportedly also used several of the children for his own sexual satisfaction.

Agung said most of the victims were from West Java and Jakarta. “We continually update the [case's] data and strive to comprehensively handle this case,” he said.

Bareskrim has handed over the rehabilitation process of the victims to the Social Affairs Ministry, which has prepared a safe house for them. Only seven victims have begun their rehabilitation at the facility. The police took them all into custody when they arrested AR at a hotel in Cipayung, Puncak, Bogor, West Java, on Aug. 30.

“We are using a safe house for the rehabilitation process so those children can still go to school,” said Agung. (ebf)

Busted prostitution ring sparks fears of child trafficking network in W. Java

Theresia Sufa
The Jakarta Post

Bogor, West Java | Sun, September 4 2016 


On alert -- Iwan Setiawan, head of the inmate affairs division at Paledang Prison, Bogor, shows a list of trafficking-related convicts released from the prison in 2015 and 2016.(JP/Theresia Sufa)

Ciawi Market in Bogor, West Java, has come into the spotlight after a male prostitution ring was uncovered earlier this week. More than 99 children have fallen victim to the prostitution ring, which has reportedly been operating since last year.

The arrest of two suspects at the market on Wednesday evening startled vendors and local residents, feeding suspicions about a large-scale prostitution network operating in the area.

Siti Juleha, a food vendor in front of Ciawi Market, said she was acquainted with U, one of the two suspects. “I’ve known [U] for a long time,” Siti told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

The man, she added, had worked at a kiosk belonging to Yayan, a Ciawi Market vegetable vendor, and later opened his own vegetable stall.

According to Siti, U was friendly and stylish. He frequently visited a beauty parlor near the market.

In running his vegetable kiosk, Siti further said, U was usually supported by three or four male teenagers between seven and 13 year of age. The children would usually work at his kiosk only for a short time, before they were replaced by other children. All children working at his kiosk would refer to U as “ayah” (father), she said.

“It seems to us he is a good person. He is a father of two. His wife gave birth to their second child last month,” said Siti.

Yayan’s sister Yuyun said U had worked at Ciawi Market since he was seven years old. “He previously worked at a kiosk belonging to my mother, Siti Hodijah. After my mother stopped running her business, [U] worked at my brother’s kiosk. Two years ago, he quit his job, without saying anything to us, to open his own kiosk,” said Yuyun.


Business as usual – A vegetable kiosk belonging to U, a child trafficking suspect arrested by National Police officers on Aug. 30, at Ciawi Market in Bogor, West Java, runs as usual after the arrest.(JP/Theresia Sufa)

U and another suspect, identified by the initial E, were arrested for their alleged involvement in the child prostitution ring for male clients.

Brig. Gen. Agung Setya, director of the special economic crimes investigation unit at the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), said they were related with AR, a suspected procuress the police had arrested at a hotel in Cipayung, Puncak, Bogor, on Tuesday.

Police said AR had been released several months ago, after serving two-and-a-half years in prison for trafficking offenses.

The arrests point to rampant sex trafficking in and around Bogor.


Kota Bogor & Gunung Salak

Iwan Setiawan, head of the inmate affairs division at Paledang Prison, Bogor, said three inmates on trafficking offenses had been released from the prison in 2016.

In 2015, he said, the penitentiary had released five trafficking convicts, including Arjo Raharjo alias Ricko bin Warto, 43, a resident Cilember, Cipayung district, Bogor regency. He had been sentenced to three years after being found guilty in a human trafficking case, he went on.

Iwan said Arjo had initially been slated for release in March 2016, but was set free in Nov 2015 after receiving a sentence remission.

“I don’t know whether or not AR, arrested by Bareskrim, is Arjo Raharjo, but if it is him, I can confirm that he was released in November last year,” said Iwan.

National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian promised to completely investigate the child prostitution case. “We will arrest anyone involved in this crime,” he said on Friday. (ebf)

Calls for Case into Child Sex Abuse Scandal at Prestigious Jakarta School to be Reopened

Glimmer of hope for Neil Bantleman

Foreign Correspondent By Samantha Hawley and Suzanne Smith


 Tracy Bantleman maintains her husband Neil is innocent. (ABC News)

A sexologist whose evidence was used to help jail a Canadian teacher on child abuse charges in Indonesia has cast doubt on the verdict, amid growing calls for police to reopen their investigation.

Canadian teacher Neil Bantleman, his Indonesian teaching assistant Ferdinand Tjiong and five school cleaners were sentenced to jail terms of up to 11 years.

But it has now emerged that part of the evidence against Bantleman hinged on how many times a week he had sex with his wife — with the court saying he was "abnormal" because it was only once a week.

Good grief. I guess most Canadians are abnormal.

Key points:

Canadian teacher, his assistant and five cleaners all given jail terms for allegedly abusing children
Evidence hinged on how many times a week teacher had sex with his wife
One of the male cleaners died in police custody
Seven staff from the Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS) are serving lengthy jail terms for allegedly sexually abusing kindergarten children.

It is also alleged that of the six cleaners, five were beaten into making confessions, while one female colleague was not harmed and never confessed.

One of the male cleaners died in police custody.

Now a former commissioner at a peak police integrity body has told Foreign Correspondent the investigation into the allegations was flawed, while a former Australian detective brought in to investigate the case says he is certain the men are innocent.


Doubt over court's 'deviant sexual behaviour' claim

Judges from the South Jakarta District Court who brought down the initial guilty verdict against the two teachers in part relied on evidence from Indonesian sexologist Dr Naek Tobing.

The doctor was used by the prosecution to assess whether Mr Bantleman's sex life caused him to become a paedophile.

The initial judgement found that the Canadian's sex life with his wife was "abnormal" because they had sex about once a week and sometimes less.

In their ruling, the panel of District Court judges found that "normally it happens every day or at least two or three time per week", and that "usually men would at least masturbate but he doesn't do it".

"The question is exactly how he channeled his sexual needs," the judges said.


Indonesian sexologist Dr Naek Tobing gave evidence to the South Jakarta District Court. (ABC News)

They concluded the Canadian had a "deviant sexual behaviour" and that his actions could be classified as "inclusive paedophilia".

But when interviewed by Foreign Correspondent, Dr Tobing said he had found nothing during his interviews with Mr Bantleman or his assistant Mr Tjiong that could determine whether the men were paedophiles.

"This testimony cannot relate to someone to be a paedophile," he said

"Even less than once a week we cannot make it as data to call them a paedophile. It needs data or — what do you call? ... A confession."


'Biased adults putting stories into the minds of children'

Former Australian detective Chris O'Connor said there was no evidence the three kindergarten boys were raped or that any of the seven people now in jail were guilty.

"It's not the case of children making up stories, it's a case of biased adults putting stories into the minds of children," he said.

"Once a child takes on a false report much of the research we have here indicated that a large number of children will embellish the false report."


Chris O'Connor, former head of the child exploitation unit and the sexual crimes squad in the Victorian police, believes there is not enough evidence. (ABC News)

Mr O'Connor was employed by the school, which caters to wealthy Indonesians and expatriates, as a child protection adviser and gave evidence for the defence.

He is the former head of the child exploitation unit and the sexual crimes squad in the Victorian police, with a career spanning 36 years.

"I am prepared to offer my personal and professional reputation to unequivocally declare that these seven people did not commit the offences for which they have been convicted," he said.

He has called on the United Nations to conduct an independent investigation into the case.


'I know Neil is innocent'

At the beginning of the year, Foreign Correspondent began filming with Mr Bantleman's wife, Tracy.

From Jakarta she is campaigning to free him. A judicial review is her last legal avenue, but it requires evidence not heard by the court previously.

"I know Neil is innocent, he knows he is innocent," she said.

"It needs to be known that I am standing beside my husband because he's an innocent man."

 
Tracy Bantleman is campaigning for the release of her husband, Neil Bantleman, and his teaching assistant, Ferdinand Tjiong (ABC News)

On the other side of Jakarta, another woman is living an almost parallel horror.

Sunarti is the wife of Agun Iskandar, one of the six Indonesian cleaners. Agun was sentenced to eight years in prison in December 2014.

The couple has a two-year-old daughter Nabila, who has only ever seen her father behind bars.

Like Ms Bantleman, Ms Iskandar has no doubt about her husband's innocence. She alleges he was beaten into confessing.

"He had to admit sodomising a kid — he didn't even know which kid," she said.

"[He told police:] 'Who is he sir? Which one? I don't know.'

"I said 'would you dare to swear to our unborn baby, that you didn't do what was accused of you?' He then whispered to my tummy, 'I swear that I never did such a thing'."


 Agun Iskander's wife, Sunarti and their daughter, Nabila. (ABC News)


Holding out for a judicial review

Mr Bantleman and Mr Tjiong were briefly released from jail at the end of last year when the Indonesian High Court overturned the conviction on appeal.

But in February the nation's highest court, the Supreme Court, overruled the acquittal and increased the teachers' jail terms from 10 to 11 years.

In the ruling the Supreme Court judges found the High Court made errors in its decision to release the men, including by dismissing the testimony of the alleged child victims.

It found although the children were not under oath, their testimony should be taken into account in conjunction with the statements made by the parents and psychologists.

Ms Bantleman hopes to have her husband out of jail by the end of the year, although most legal experts agree that is unlikely.

"Right now in my mind, I'm giving a very large timeframe for the judicial review," she said.

"For me the next best hope for Neil is that we can bring him home at Christmas.

"That's the target — you can't live past that, otherwise it will bring you down."

Dr Muhammed Nasser, a member of Kompolnas, the National Police Commission at the time of the arrests, told Foreign Correspondent the cleaners' confessions may have been made after physical abuse.

Dr Nasser wants the case relaunched.

"We suspect that the confession made by the people who got interrogated smells abusive," he said.

"We challenge the court decision and that is what we are doing now."

Please people, let's pray for this travesty to be made right.

Girl Gang-raped & Murdered by 14 Men & Boys Sparked Castration Law

JAKARTA, May 26 (UPI) -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Wednesday signed an executive order declaring that child sexual abuse is punishable by chemical castration and death.

The new regulation follows the April brutal gang rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl, who was found naked and tied up in a forest in the island of Sumatra. A group of seven teenagers have been imprisoned for 10 years over the rape and killing.

Good for President Widodo for acting so quickly.

Yenni Kwok, Time of India, 4 May 2016

Outraged women's groups are urging the government to pass the long-awaited Elimination of Sexual Violence Bill

A brutal crime that snuffed out the life of a bright student has shocked Indonesia and galvanized public demand for the leaders of the world’s most populous Muslim nation to take violence against women seriously.

Yuyun — whose name has been released by her family — was a schoolgirl born to a poor family in the small village of Kasie Kasubun in Bengkulu province, Sumatra. Local media reports give her age as either 13 or 14, and she was a bright student, ranked third in her class. On April 2, going home from school she was gang-raped and murdered by a group of 14 men and boys. Her body was dumped at a rubber plantation and found two days later.

Police swiftly apprehended 12 of the 14 alleged perpetrators, which include her ex-boyfriend and two students from her school. Half of the suspects are aged 18 or younger.

As gruesome as it was, the news barely caused a blip in national media until feminist activists in Jakarta launched a social-media campaign. Last weekend, independent musician Kartika Jahja of Kolektif Betina (the Female Collective) kicked off a viral video campaign with the hashtag #NyalaUntukYuyun (which can be paraphrased as Light a Candle for Yuyun). Soon, Indonesian celebrities from singers Julia Perez and Kristina to movie directors Joko Anwar and Nia Dinata began to show their support.

On Wednesday morning, hours before women’s-rights activists are set to hold a candlelight vigil opposite of the presidential palace, President Joko Widodo made a statement. “We all mourn the tragic departure of YY,” he tweeted, using the victim’s initials. “Arrest and punish the perpetrators as severely as possible. Women and children have to be protected from violence.”

Violence against women out of control

Yuyun “is actually just one of 44 women and girls killed by men and boys in the first four months of 2016, but her case is certainly one of the most brutal,” says Kate Walton, a Jakarta-based women’s-rights activist who first brought Yuyun’s rape-murder to the attention of other feminists last weekend. She logs instances of Indonesian women killed by men, who are mostly their sexual partners.

By her count, 30 of the 44 females killed by males this year died at the hands of their current or former sexual partners. She points out that around the world, the vast majority of women are murdered by men they know, often their husbands or boyfriends — and Indonesia is no exception.

According to the National Commission on Violence Against Women, an average of 35 women are victims of sexual violence in Indonesia every day. Nearly 70% of cases of violence against women, be they fatal or nonfatal, are committed by family members or partners.

In the wake of the gang rape, the commission is pressing the government to pass the long-awaited Elimination of Sexual Violence Bill. “The state has to show a sense of urgency [on] the issue of sexual violence,” it said.

Women’s-rights activists hope that the outrage generated by Yuyun’s case can push for change in both legislation and also in daily life, and say that patriarchal culture is the root cause of violence against women.

Back in Yuyun’s village, her family is still reeling from the grief and shock. Girls in the village don’t dare to walk to and from home unescorted.

The trial of the seven underage perpetrators, who face 10 years in jail, opened on Monday under heavy security. “We want the perpetrators get the heaviest punishment,” her mother Yana told BBC Indonesia. “I want to ask for life.”

Sexual Abuse and Unsafe Sex Haunt Jakarta's Street Children

Indra Budiari
The Jakarta Post


Women Empowerment and Child Protection Minister Yohana Yambise (left)pays a visit to suspects detained over the alleged exploitation of children at the South Jakarta Police Office on March 27. The four suspects are alleged to have forced children to work as street beggars and or buskers in Jakarta. (Kompas.com/Kahfi Dirga Cahya)

A teenage girl was sitting on the sidewalk in front of Pasar Minggu market in South Jakarta with other children her age when suddenly a little boy ran into her arms.

“Have you eaten something?” the girl, who wished to remain anonymous, asked the boy who then shook his head. Soon afterwards she asked one of her friends to buy some bread at the nearest shop for her son.

“This boy is my son but all of my friends here consider him their son as well,” she told The Jakarta Post recently. “That’s one of the perks of raising your child in the street.”

Many children in Jakarta who feel that they do not fit into their families, or who are simply no longer acknowledged by their parents, are opting to live in the streets with others who have similar stories.

Some of the homeless get food and shelter from charities, but others live under bridges or in garbage dumps and find food for themselves, a situation that potentially turns even more ugly with the addition of unsafe sexual behavior or sexual abuse.

The AIDS Research Center at Atma Jaya Catholic University of Jakarta recently found that without their parents’ supervision, street children were exposed to romantic and sexual relationships for which they had received no guidance, or example to look up to.

For preliminary research, the organization visited 43 street children in Jakarta aged between 15 and 18 years. Kekek Apriana, one of the researchers, said that during a focus group discussion, the children told her that according to their definition, a relationship happened when a couple did various activities together including eating, kissing, using drugs and drinking alcohol.

“From the groups of teenage girls that I talked with, two were pregnant and another girl had a 2-year old son,” Kekek said in a recent interview, adding that none of them were married.

She added that every group of street children had an adult that they considered their big brother. The guy, usually around 30 years old or older, protects them in the street from being taken by officers of the Jakarta Public Order Agency ( Satpol PP ) or Jakarta Social Agency.

However, the “big brother” is sometimes the person who also exploits and abuses the girls, claiming that it is a form of protection. Unsafe sex using balloons for contraception and under bridges leaves the children very vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases.

Sexual exploitation is a fact of life for these girls and conditions are not so different for the boys. Kekek said that in the focus group discussions the boys had shared that some of them were dependent on an older woman or transsexual who they paid back with sexual activity.

“This is the scenario for our street children that gets overlooked by the government and the city administration,” she said.

The current government program on street children, she continued, merely focused on getting them off the street instead of learning about what they were exposed in their lives on the street. “They are only taken to city institutions to learn how to sew before getting released a few months later. That is not the answer,” she said. “They need the right information and access to medical services.”

Based on recent data released by the Jakarta Social Agency, there are 787 street children in Jakarta, most of them located in West Jakarta and East Jakarta.

Arum Ratnawati, national chief technical advisor of the International Labor Organization ( ILO ) said the root of the problem of street children was there still being a large number of people living in poverty and forcing their children to make ends meet on the street.

“Another problem is law enforcement. We already have a law protecting children from working on the street, but the implementation need to be improved,” she said.

Indonesia To Use Chemical Castration to Punish Pedophiles: Attorney General

   Neil Bantleman, Canadian teacher in Indonesian prison for child sex abuse

Indonesia's president will soon sign a decree authorizing the use of chemical castration to punish pedophiles, the attorney general said, following a string of headline-grabbing child sex crimes.

Indonesia will join a small group of nations that allows such punishment, including Poland, Russia, and Estonia, as well as some U.S. states. In 2011, South Korea became the first Asian country to use chemical castration as a punishment.

"We are very concerned about child molestation abuse cases. This phenomenon has reached extraordinary levels," Attorney General H.M. Prasetyo told reporters after a cabinet meeting late on Tuesday.

"It has been agreed that there will be additional punishment in order to make people think a thousand times before doing this," he said.

President Joko Widodo is expected to issue a presidential decree soon approving the punishment after the cabinet agreed to the measure late on Tuesday, Prasetyo said.

Chemical castration would involve injecting convicted pedophiles with a female hormone in the hope "his sexual desire will vanish", he said.

The rape last year of a 6-year-old student by a group of janitors at the U.S.-embassy backed Jakarta Intercultural School rekindled calls for tougher punishments.

There have been a number of other high-profile child sex crimes since then. A 9-year-old schoolgirl was raped and killed in the capital, Jakarta, earlier this month.

A 39-year-old man has been arrested in relation to that case. Police believe the girl was strangled with a cellphone charger cable, Indonesian media has reported.

(Reporting by the Jakarta bureau; Writing by Randy Fabi; Editing by Paul Tait)

This is a scary thing for Canadian teacher Neil Bantleman who taught at the Jakarta International School, now the Jakarta Intercultural School. Bantleman was convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison for child rape. He was convicted even though there is not a shred of credible evidence against him. Bantleman was found guilty, then acquitted on appeal, then found guilty again when the state appealed.

Indonesia's courts system is very shaky and I have no confidence in their getting it right. Consequently, I expect a lot of innocent men will be castrated and microchipped.


Digital Journal also reports: Rapists to be fitted with microchips

Under a new law, Indonesia will plant microchips on all its convicted child rapists so that they can be monitored at all times.

The microchip will be fitted before the criminals are released from prison, and is needed to monitor and locate them after they are freed.The decree could be signed in the coming days.

Indonesia to Chemically Castrate Child Sex Offenders

Jakarta - Indonesia will chemically castrate child sex offenders, the country's National Commission on Child Protection announced on Thursday.

President Joko Widodo is set to issue a regulation in lieu of law which stipulates a harsher sanction for anyone who commits sexual violence against children, which will involve injecting a hormone to reduce libido and sexual activity, in an attempt to minimise the chances of re-offending, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The president has agreed to include imposing chemical castration in the regulation in lieu of law which also stipulates sexual abuse against children as an extraordinary crime," said Aris Merdeka Sirait, the commission's head.

Extraordinary crimes in Indonesia include drug abuse, corruption and terrorism.

Indonesia has witnessed a string of headline-grabbing cases of child sex assault in recent years with many of them involving serial pedophiles.

One of them is a travesty of justice resulting in a Canadian teacher being jailed for 11 years with absolutely no evidence against him. Is Neil Bantleman in danger of being treated with these chemicals? Nothing seems below the dignity of the Indonesian courts. It would be an absolute travesty for Indonesia to start castrating child sex offenders when its justice system is such an abysmal failure. 

Malaysia and India recently announced that they also considered similar measures against repeat sexual offenders and convicted rapists, but South Korea was the first Asian country to permit the punishment in 2011.

Russia, Poland and some states in the US have long allowed such treatment.

Neil Bantleman's Sex Abuse Acquittal Overturned by Indonesian Court - Update

Brother reacts to new 11-year sentence:

'We were getting to the end of this nightmare'
Neil is in police custody. Any hope of whisking him out of Indonesia is gone

BY ANNALISE KLINGBEIL , POSTMEDIA

Canadian teacher Neil Bantleman sits on the defendant's chair prior to the start of his trial hearing at South Jakarta District Court in Jakarta, Indonesia, Monday, Dec. 2, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Tatan Syuflana

Friends and family of a former Calgary schoolteacher are devastated by the latest twist in an Indonesian sex abuse trial that on Thursday reached the highest levels of Canadian government.

On Tuesday, the Indonesian Supreme Court overturned the lower court's decision and ordered Bantleman back to prison, just six months after his acquittal.

From his home in Burlington, Ont., Neil’s brother Guy Bantleman said Thursday his family is disappointed by what’s happened and he’s planning to meet with the department of Foreign Affairs and consular services in Ottawa.

“We were getting to the end of this nightmare but this very sudden and abrupt decision by the Supreme Court is shocking,” he said.

“(Neil is) very taken aback by what’s happened. He was getting in that mindset that freedom was going to be coming to him shortly and the prospect of being in custody again and spending more time in jail, none of that is obviously very appealing.”

Bantleman’s nightmare began almost two years ago when the elite Jakarta Intercultural School (formerly called the Jakarta International School) where he worked was embroiled in controversy after a janitor was accused of raping a five-year-old boy in a school bathroom in March 2014.

Bantleman, who is originally from Burlington, Ont. and taught at Calgary’s private Webber Academy for 10 years, was taken into custody on July 10, 2014 with Indonesian teaching assistant Ferdinant Tijong. Months later, both were charged with sexually abusing three young boys at the school, where Bantleman and his wife had worked for four years.

In April 2015, Bantleman and Tijong were found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in jail, in a trial that was widely criticized for irregularities, injustices and a lack of evidence.

The former Calgary teacher and maintained his innocence and appealed the conviction to the Jakarta High Court, which acquitted Bantleman and Tijong of child sexual offences last August.

The pair was released from prison but Bantleman was not permitted to leave the country because of a subsequent appeal filed to the country's Supreme Court.

Bantleman’s brother Guy said a panel was named to oversee the Supreme Court appeal on Monday and by Tuesday evening in Ontario he heard the Indonesian Supreme Court had overturned his brother’s acquittal.

“We’re extremely surprised this transpired. There doesn’t seem to be any justification from the courts on why the reason and rational for their decision,” he said.

In its decision, the high court also ordered both Bantleman and Tijong to serve 11 years in prison instead of the 10 years they initially received and ordered each to pay a $7,440 fine each or serve six more months in jail.

The news spurred a statement from Minister of Foreign Affairs Stephane Dion, who says the Canadian government is “deeply dismayed and shocked” by the decision.

It marked the first time the federal government has publicly weighed in on the case.

Dion warned the outcome of the high-profile case has serious implications for Indonesia’s reputation as a safe place for Canadans to work, travel and invest.

“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,” the statement read.

“Despite Canada’s repeated calls for due process, this case was not handled in a fair and transparent manner.”

U.S. Ambassador Robert O. Blake also expressed disappointment over the verdict, saying the outcome of the legal process will impact international views about the rule of law in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, news the respected teacher has been ordered back to prison has devastated his supporters in Calgary.

Nancy McKellar, who worked with Bantelman at Webber Academy and has organized several Calgary rallies and vigils in his honour, said Thursday she was shocked when she heard about the latest development early Thursday morning.

“I felt like my heart was breaking and I’d been punched in the gut,” she said.

“It just seems so overwhelmingly obvious to us here in Canada that they’re innocent.”

Neil Webber, the founder, president and chairman of Webber Academy, where Bantleman worked as a physical education teacher and coach, said Bantleman was a superb teacher.

“Students loved him, teachers loved him, parents loved him,” he said.

“The one word that describes Neil Bantleman best is gentleman.”

Mayor Naheed Nenshi told reporters Thursday the news was “very upsetting” and he tweeted Minister Dion asking, “How can we get him home?"

Under Indonesian law, both Bantleman and Tijong still could challenge the sentence by filing for judicial review by the Supreme Court if they have new evidence.

Guy Bantleman said a judicial review would be the last appeal possible for his brother and the family is looking into retaining a Toronto law firm to help with the process.

While Tijong has already been arrested and taken back to prison, Neil was travelling and wasn’t in Jakarta when the ruling was handed down. He’s not yet in custody and is speaking with Canadian consular officials, his brother said.

I wonder, is there any chance he can be smuggled out of that judicial cesspool? Let's hope and pray he can get to the Canadian or US embassy before the police pick him up. 

-- With files from The Associated Press

Bantleman Still in Trouble in Indonesia

Sex assault evidence used against Neil Bantleman seriously flawed, fifth estate finds

Burlington, Ont., teacher has had conviction for assaulting 3 boys overturned
but is still stuck in Indonesia (Achmad Ibrahim/Associated Press)

By Lisa Mayor, Vanmala Subramaniam, CBC News

Canadian teacher Neil Bantleman, pictured above with his wife, Tracy, was released from Cipinang prison in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Aug. 14, 2015, but his battle with Indonesia's justice system is far from over. State prosecutors have appealed the overturning of his conviction for child sexual offences, and his passport has been seized. 

Crucial pieces of the evidence used to convict Canadian teacher Neil Bantleman of sexually assaulting young boys at a private school in Indonesia are seriously flawed, an investigation by the fifth estate has found.

"The things running through your head are: I'm Canadian, I'm a teacher, I'm going into a prison in Indonesia. Is this is a movie? Is this a nightmare?" Bantleman told the investigative program in Jakarta, in his first television interview.

Watch the fifth estate's Nightmare in Indonesia 

Bantleman, 46, who is originally from Burlington, Ont., was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison in April 2015 largely on the testimony of three kindergarten-age boys and little forensic evidence. His conviction was overturned last August, but his nightmare is far from over. The Indonesian justice ministry is determined to get Bantleman back behind bars and has filed an appeal of the most recent court decision. His passport has been revoked, leaving him stuck in Indonesia.

Herpes test key for case

The original allegations against Bantleman were made in March 2014 while he was teaching at the Jakarta International School (JIS), an upscale private school attended by children of diplomats, expatriates and wealthy Indonesians, and accused him and an Indonesian teaching assistant of sexually assaulting three kindergarten pupils some time between January 2013 and March 2014.

Perhaps the most emotionally compelling pieces of evidence in the case were lab reports that seemed to prove one of the alleged victims, a five-year-old boy, had contracted herpes.

The boy's mother, who goes by the name Pipit, had her son tested for the herpes virus a total of four times over a period of 19 months. She brandished one of those tests at a news conference in April 2014, insisting the test showed her son had tested positive for herpes. The results of the tests were entered into evidence in the case against Bantleman.

The fifth estate tracked down the boy's family at an undisclosed location in Europe.

"Yes, I believe my son was sexually assaulted by Neil Bantleman," Pipit told host Mark Kelley in an exclusive interview.

Pipit says doctors told her that her son could only have contracted the herpes virus by sexual intercourse.

Toronto specialist contradicts herpes findings

The fifth estate obtained copies of all four lab reports from Pipit and showed them to Toronto-based infectious disease specialist Dr. Sumon Chakrabarti.

'Beyond a reasonable doubt, this child has not ever been exposed to herpes.'

- Sumon Chakrabarti, infectious disease specialist

"Beyond a reasonable doubt, this child has not ever been exposed to herpes," Chakrabarti told the fifth estate.

The first two lab reports from hospitals in Indonesia indicated a positive result for what is called an IgM test.

The IgM test determines a patient's possible recent exposure to the herpes virus. But because of its high rate of false positives, the IgM test has been discontinued in most developed countries, including Canada.

Indonesian teaching assistant Ferdinand Tjiong kisses his wife outside a Jakarta court in April 2015. Tjiong and Bantleman were sentenced to 10 years in jail each that month after a four-month trial that critics say was fraught with irregularities. Their convictions were later overturned. (Darren Whiteside/Reuters)

A majority of infectious disease experts concur that another test, called IgG  — which determines a patient's latent exposure to herpes — is the most accurate way to tell if someone is carrying the herpes virus.

The IgG test results on the first two lab reports of the boy were negative, and according to Chakrabarti, two subsequent tests, done approximately a year apart, also showed negative IgG results for herpes.

To clear up any remaining confusion, the fifth estate — with his mother's permission — had the boy undergo a final test for herpes at a reputable European laboratory. The results were definitive.

"This test is actually saying that herpes is negative," Chakrabati said, referring to the most recent test result. "The child has not been exposed to herpes."

But Pipit insists that the European experts got it wrong and she maintains her son does have the herpes virus.

Magic stones and potions

On June 13, 2014, police raided the Jakarta International School, combing the building looking for clues.

Pipit's son alleged he was attacked in a secret room near the staff lounge. He also said Bantleman used a magic stone and a blue potion to numb him before the assaults.

The fifth estate obtained a tape of the police search in the staff lounge. After extensive raids of the room, police found no evidence of a magic stone, a blue potion or secret room in the lounge. They did, however, find a blender that they claim was used to mix the potion. They found no DNA, fingerprints or witnesses to prove the boys were in the teacher's lounge.

Tracy Bantleman looks through some of the cards and letters of support her husband received at their house in Jakarta. There has also been a large outpouring of anger against the Canadian, however, within Indonesia itself. (Courtesy of Tracy Bantleman)

After Bantleman's conviction, he and fellow accused Ferdinand Tjiong, a teaching assistant at JIS, were sent to Indonesia's Cipinang maximum security prison to serve their respective 10-year sentences.

Bantleman told the fifth estate about his time in prison.

"When I first arrived in Cipinang, I said to our cell leader, 'I am not guilty,'" Bantleman said. "And he's like, 'It doesn't matter.' And I remember his words, because he was right. 'Once you get to that point, you're guilty, so what are you going to do about it?' is what he said.

"When you go into the cell, there's seven or eight other guys in there, and you don't know what to do, where to sit, who to talk to, if you're going to make it that night. I mean you're going in with allegations that you abused children, this is the worst allegation that you can go into prison with. This is where you hear that, this is where you get your justice, or the street justice as they say, so yeah, we're terrified."

'We weren't getting the support we needed'

Meanwhile, Bantleman's wife, Tracy, was concerned that his case was not getting the attention it deserved from the Canadian government.

"I believe it was the U.S. embassy, the British embassy and the Australian embassy made a statement of concern, and the Canadian embassy didn't. And that's why we felt that we weren't getting the support we needed from the Canadian government right from the beginning."

In August 2015, Bantleman was released on a legal technicality, but his nightmare wasn't over yet.

Prosecutor Sarjono Turin and his staff are busy preparing their case to try to send Bantleman back to prison to finish serving his 10 year sentence.

Turin says public opinion was a factor in deciding to appeal his acquittal, but he's confident he can make the case to convict the Canadian.

"If we weren't convinced, we would not have brought this case to the courts," Turin said. "Because we had that [certainty], it was our duty to protect the interests of the country and society to bring this case to the courts. "

'I told Neil that based on past experience, you know, anything could happen.'

- Hotman Paris, defence lawyer

Even Bantleman's defence lawyer, Hotman Paris, thinks that given the outpouring of public anger around this case, it's doubtful Bantleman can win.

"I told Neil that based on past experience, you know, anything could happen," Paris said. "So, just prepare yourself. That's all I could say. And he knows that. So, he's ready for anything."

Others swept up in allegations

Six cleaners at the Jakarta International School were also the targets of sex assault allegations involving one of the three boys in Bantleman's case. Five men and one woman were arrested and beaten into confessing to sexually assaulting the six-year-old boy.

Tracy Bantleman feels her husband did not get adequate support from the
Canadian government while incarcerated. (Faiz Mercury and David Allinson)

One of the cleaners, a 27-year old named Azwar wouldn't make it through the night. Within 24 hours of his arrest, he was pronounced dead. Police say he committed suicide by drinking bleach in the bathroom, but a photo obtained by the fifth estate suggests that might not be the full story. It shows his face was badly bruised and battered and still swollen after death.

With confessions in hand, convictions were now inevitable: the four men were sentenced to eight years in prison each, and the woman got seven years as an accomplice.

Meanwhile, Bantleman and Tjiong await their fates.

"I guess we look towards the future with positivity and anticipation of being able to touch back down on Canadian soil and seeing our parents and celebrating truth and justice and freedom," Tracy Bantleman said.

It may be time to smuggle the Bantlemans out of that backward country since it is unlikely they will ever get fair treatment. I understand that it's better to stay and clear your name if there was any likelihood of that happening. But since that seems to be a low probability, the risk of ten years in prison where you might not survive the first night, just may not be worth it.

Uproar in Rohinga Migrant Camp in Aceh After Girl & 2 Women Raped

Rohingya and Bangladeshi migrants greet each other after
 morning prayers celebrating Eid al-Fitr at a confinement
camp for the migrants in Langsa, located in Aceh province
on July 17, 2015. (AFP/Januar)

Associated Press, 
Blang Adoe, 
Aceh | Archipelago 
Indonesia

Archipelago News
More than 200 ethnic Rohingya stormed out of an encampment in Aceh Tuesday as tensions erupted following alleged rapes and beatings by locals at the site where members of Myanmar's long-persecuted minority have been held since arriving four months ago by boat.

The incident occurred after authorities forced one of the females to go to a hospital. Other Rohingya did not want her to leave, fearing she could be abused more if separated from the group, said Steve Hamilton, deputy chief of mission at the International Organization for Migration, who was at the scene.

That "caused some panic and a brief chaotic response, with Rohingya trying to stop the ambulance," he said.

Four females and six males, aged 14 to 28, said they were attempting to flee the camp Monday night because they wanted to go to neighboring Malaysia, where a large community of Muslim Rohingya exists, Hamilton said. They alleged they were stopped not far from the camp by a group of Indonesian men with masks and taken into the woods, where they were beaten and three of the females were raped, including a 14-year-old.

"We very much regret this incident and will definitely thoroughly investigate it," said Amir Hamzah, a spokesman for the district government in North Aceh. He said the females were traumatized and wanted to seek medical attention, but were stopped when Rohingya men in the camp insisted they stay.

Immigration officials were working to identify everyone who returned to the camp Tuesday night after the tensions calmed, and some women were being examined at the hospital, said North Aceh Deputy Police Chief Maj. Irsyad Haryadi.

"We are still investigating this serious case while waiting for the hospital results," he said. No arrests have been made, and Haryadi said it was difficult to find witnesses to corroborate the story.

Since Myanmar opened up following a half-century of military rule in 2011, an estimated 130,000 Rohingya have fled violence and persecution, sparking the largest boat exodus in Asia since the Vietnam War. Earlier this year, the situation spiraled after a crackdown on people smugglers in Thailand and Malaysia left thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshis stranded at sea when their agents and captains, fearing arrest, abandoned them.

Several countries in the region refused to allow the boat people to come ashore in May, worried that opening the door to a few would invite a massive influx.

Under international pressure, Indonesia and Malaysia finally allowed the boats to land and said they would temporarily host those on board until a more permanent solution could be found.

Hundreds of Rohingya ended up in Indonesia, but it was never their intended destination. They are being held in camps, cannot work and are separated from family members, including those living in Malaysia.
___
Associated Press writers Margie Mason, Niniek Karmini and Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta, Indonesia, contributed to this report.

Nightmare Nearly Over for Canadian Teacher Neil Bantleman in Indonesia

Neil Bantleman freed after sex assault conviction overturned by Indonesian court

Teaching assistant from Jakarta school also cleared by high court in appeal hearing

CBC News

Canadian teacher Neil Bantleman, right, hugs his wife Tracy after he was
released from Cipinang prison in Jakarta on Friday. Bantleman had spent
more than a year in prison on allegations he sexually abused three
children at an Indonesian school. (Achmad Ibrahim/Associated Press)

On Friday, Indonesia freed Canadian teacher Neil Bantleman and an Indonesian teaching assistant, Ferdinant Tjiong, who had been jailed for sexually abusing students at an international school in a case critics say was fraught with irregularities and put the country's justice system under the spotlight.

"The truth has finally come out," a tearful Bantleman announced before kissing his wife upon his release from an East Jakarta prison, where he and Tjiong were met by dozens of cheering family members and supporters.

Bantleman, 45, and Tjiong were found guilty in April of abusing kindergarten students at the Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS). They had been sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined 100 million rupiah ($7,600 Cdn). The two men filed appeals to the Jakarta High Court in May.

The lawyer for both men, Hotman Paris Hutapea, said Friday that the court overturned both Bantleman and Tjiong's indecency convictions for raping three kindergarten students, now six and seven years old, at the international school.

"Justice has been done," Hutapea told The Associated Press on Friday.

The judge delivered the decision in closed court, said reporter Jack Hewson, who is covering the story from Jakarta for CBC News.

Hutapea brought the written decision to an awaiting media scrum and read back the findings — which was not guilty based on the revisions of the evidence against both men, Hewson said.

"Tracy Bantleman and Ferdinant Tjiong's wife Siska both joined Hotman Paris [Hutapea] to announce the verdict, they were both extremely emotional addressing the crowd of journalists," Hewson said.

"Tracy said justice had finally been served and their husbands would be coming back to them where they belonged. She then broke down in tears." 

Bantleman's brother Guy Bantleman, who lives in Toronto, told CBC News late Thursday evening that he had received confirmation the convictions had been overturned.

In an email on Friday morning, Guy said the duo had been released and that the Bantlemans will spend the next 72 hours away from the media spotlight.

After the weekend, he said, the family will determine next steps, including a possible appeal by the prosecutor to the supreme court in Indonesia.

Men always maintained innocence

Bantleman, right, and Indonesian teaching assistant Ferdinant Tjiong, left,
raise their hands as they stand with lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea, centre,
after they were released from prison in Jakarta on Friday.
(Achmad Ibrahim/Associated Press)

Bantleman and Tjiong always steadfastly maintained their innocence and were supported by fellow teachers and the principal at the Jakarta International School, now called the Jakarta Intercultural School.

Bantleman, a Burlington, Ont., native who used to teach at the Webber Academy in Calgary, has been behind bars in Jakarta since 2014 when the allegations were made.

Nan McKellar, who worked in Calgary with Bantleman, said she was "so happy" with the news.

"You know what, at our rally a month ago, down at city hall, there was no conception, no idea that this could happen this soon," she said. "Oh my gosh."

"You would only have to be in a room with Neil for a minute to know he is the most upstanding straightforward, no pretension, nothing hiding kind of person you will ever meet. None of us ever had a doubt for even a second," she added.

The Jakarta school where he worked is attended by children of foreign diplomats, expatriates and Indonesia's elite. It has 2,400 students aged three to 18 from about 60 countries.

Hutapea has said the rape claims were all about money.

This is what I have been saying all along. Indonesia, and other Asian countries have developed a culture of suing or extorting money from foreigners for sexually abusing their children, regardless of whether or not it actually happened.

The principal and a number of other teachers have alleged the same about the case. The parents of one of the children had sued the school for alleged negligence and were seeking $125 million in compensation.

Civil case thrown out 

But on Monday, the same district court threw out the civil case brought by the mother of one of the children against the school, saying it had not proven that any of the alleged abuses had actually taken place, since new evidence from medical reports from three different hospitals in Jakarta and Singapore showed no major injuries or abnormalities in the three children.

The decision came after a court in Singapore on July 16 ruled that the woman accusing Bantleman had defamed him, Tjiong and the school because the allegations of sexual abuse could not be proven, and ordered the parent to pay a total of $164,700 in damages.

The case was brought in Singapore by Bantleman's family because the initial allegations were made in Singapore through emails, texts and other digital communications.

Hutapea said both decisions had an impact on the higher court's decision to free Bantleman and Tjiong. The arrests of Bantleman and Tjiong in July last year followed reports from the parents of a six-year-old boy who had been sodomized three months earlier.

Four male janitors were sentenced to eight years in jail in that case, while a woman received seven years as an accomplice. Police said a sixth suspect killed himself in custody by drinking bathroom cleaner.

Hutapea said a copy of the higher court decision has to be taken to the district court to start the process of getting his clients released from prison.

Prosecutors, who could appeal the latest decision to the Supreme Court, could not be reached for comment.

Congratulations Neil and Tracy, we are so glad truth has prevailed.