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Erwiana Sulistyaningsih
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Law Wan-tung, former employer of Indonesian domestic helper Erwiana Sulistyaningsih. Photo: Sam Tsang

Employer who abused domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih loses appeal bid

Judge rejects appeal from Law Wan-tung, who was sentenced to six years in prison for repeated attacks on the Indonesian woman between 2013 and 2014

The abusive employer jailed for assaulting Indonesian former domestic worker Erwiana Sulistyaningsih failed in her bid to clear her name on Thursday.

Law Wan-tung, 44, went before the Court of Appeal to ask for permission to advance her appeal against her convictions and sentence of six years imprisonment.

Law, who failed to secure financial aid for this appeal due to her wealth, also asked vice-president of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice Michael Lunn to exercise his power to demand the Legal Aid Department help fund her legal representation.

But before noon, her applications had already been refused, though she was told by Lunn that she could renew her appeal, to be heard by a panel of three judges, in a fresh bid.

Her family members, including her son and daughter, who testified earlier during the trial, were among the court audience.

Law was earlier convicted of 18 of 20 charges, eight of which accused the mother of assaulting and criminally intimidating Erwiana and another Indonesian maid, Tutik Lestari Ningsih.

During the trial, a lower court heard shocking details as to how Eriwana was punched by Law so hard that her teeth were fractured. Law also twisted a metal tube from a vacuum cleaner in Erwiana’s mouth, causing cuts to her lips, while the helper was employed between 2013 and 2014.

In court on Thursday, a written document prepared by her former legal representatives argued that District Court judge Amanda Woodcock failed to note discrepancies in Erwiana’s evidence.

It also called into question Woodcock’s decision to rule Tutik as a credible witness and how the judge dealt with medical witnesses and evidence.

Countering, acting senior assistant director of public prosecutions Catherine Ko Po-chui said the trial judge had taken the discrepancies into consideration.

“I do not find the inconsistencies so material that it leads me to doubt the veracity ... of the evidence,” she quoted Woodcock as saying.

She also said the trial judge accepted the medical evidence as one of few aspects on which she drew her conclusion.

She said Woodcock had also considered Tutik’s inability to articulate, and that it was not “surprising”for her report to police after Erwiana’s case came into light.

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Erwiana employer loses appeal bid over abuse case
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