Close X
Monday, November 18, 2024
ADVT 
National

Family Of Canadian Held In Indonesia Hopes Related Ruling Will Help Man's Case

The Canadian Press, 06 Aug, 2015 11:02 AM
  • Family Of Canadian Held In Indonesia Hopes Related Ruling Will Help Man's Case
The family of a Canadian teacher imprisoned in Indonesia on much criticized child-abuse convictions is hoping a related ruling from a court in the neighbouring country of Singapore will help his case.
 
Neil Bantleman is currently serving a 10-year sentence after an Indonesian court found him and a co-worker guilty of abusing children at the elite international school that employed them.
 
Bantleman's brother said a mother of one of the alleged victims levelled many of her accusations at the start of the case in the form of emails, text messages and other digital communication sent from Singapore.
 
As a result, Guy Bantleman says his brother, his co-worker and their employer filed a defamation lawsuit against the woman in Singapore.
 
He says the court found that accusations of sexual abuse levelled by the mother regarding her son could not be proven, found that the mother had defamed the men and the school and ordered the mother to pay a total of nearly 230,000 Singapore dollars ($219,000) in damages.
 
"The court said there was no evidence to support the allegations of the mother and in reality there were more communications that actually said the mother and child indicated no sort of physical abuse," Bantleman's brother said.
 
"We hope the courts in Indonesia have taken note of what the courts in Singapore have ruled."
 
Neil Bantleman's family has called the case against the 46-year-old Burlington, Ont., man a surreal one.
 
He and a teaching assistant were both working at the Jakarta Intercultural School when they were arrested last July following reports from parents of a six-year-old boy who claimed to have been sodomized. Police had already arrested five janitors who worked at the school on charges of child sexual assault in relation to the case.
 
Bantleman and the teaching assistant, Ferdinant Tjiong, were then charged with sexually abusing three children at the school, underwent a trial that saw conflicting evidence, and were eventually convicted in April.
 
Both men maintained their innocence throughout and frequently voiced criticisms about the fairness and transparency of the trial which saw medical reports from three different hospitals in Jakarta and Singapore show no major injuries or abnormalities in the three children at the centre of the case.
 
Bantleman filed an appeal, which is expected to be ruled on at the end of this month.
 
His family hopes the positive court ruling from Singapore might have some impact on the outcome of his Indonesian legal battle.
 
"Obviously we're talking about two different countries, what happens in Singapore doesn't mean it's going to follow through in Indonesia," Bantleman's brother said. "But I think it does point the courts in Indonesia in a direction that says listen, 'we've looked at this information and find a very different outcome of what happened.'"
 
Bantleman wrote to Prime Minister Stephen Harper after being found guilty in Indonesia, saying the process used to convict him was corrupt and amounted to a human rights violation.
 
The federal government has called on Indonesia to ensure the appeal is conducted in a "fair and transparent manner'' and says it continues to monitor Bantleman's health and safety.

MORE National ARTICLES

Bank Of Canada Holds Key Rate At 0.75% Despite Questions About U.S. Weakness

Bank Of Canada Holds Key Rate At 0.75% Despite Questions About U.S. Weakness
OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada is keeping its trendsetting interest rate locked at 0.75 per cent even as recent weakness in the United States raises questions about the economy here at home.

Bank Of Canada Holds Key Rate At 0.75% Despite Questions About U.S. Weakness

First Big Meeting: Alberta Premier Notley's Cabinet Gets Together In Calgary

First Big Meeting: Alberta Premier Notley's Cabinet Gets Together In Calgary
Notley and 11 other New Democrats who make up the 12-member cabinet were sworn in at the Alberta legislature on Sunday.

First Big Meeting: Alberta Premier Notley's Cabinet Gets Together In Calgary

Beautiful Vancouver Safe And Diverse, Hardly 'Mind-Numbingly Boring,' Says Mayor Gregor Robertson

Beautiful Vancouver Safe And Diverse, Hardly 'Mind-Numbingly Boring,' Says Mayor Gregor Robertson
VANCOUVER — It seems Vancouver has gone from being one of the world's most livable cities to "mind-numbingly boring" in the space of nine months — at least according to The Economist.

Beautiful Vancouver Safe And Diverse, Hardly 'Mind-Numbingly Boring,' Says Mayor Gregor Robertson

Man Facing Charges After Penticton Police Car Rammed, Dragged: RCMP

Man Facing Charges After Penticton Police Car Rammed, Dragged: RCMP
PENTICTON, B.C. — A 40-year-old man is facing charges after a police car was rammed and dragged at an intersection in Penticton, B.C.

Man Facing Charges After Penticton Police Car Rammed, Dragged: RCMP

B.C. Terror Trial Enters Second Day Of Closing Arguments Into Alleged Bomb Plot

VANCOUVER — Another defence lawyer is expected to deliver closing arguments today in the trial of a husband and wife accused of plotting to bomb the B.C. legislature.

B.C. Terror Trial Enters Second Day Of Closing Arguments Into Alleged Bomb Plot

B.C. Must Work On Determining Total Impact Of Resource Projects: Auditor General

B.C. Must Work On Determining Total Impact Of Resource Projects: Auditor General
VICTORIA — British Columbia's auditor general says the province has failed to adequately address the long-term environmental impact of its resource-development decisions.

B.C. Must Work On Determining Total Impact Of Resource Projects: Auditor General