Canadian, Indonesian in school abuse case ordered back to jail

A Canadian and an Indonesian have been ordered back to jail for committing sex abuse at a Jakarta international school after their acquittals were overturned, a court official said on Thursday, the latest dramatic twist in the long-running case.

The Supreme Court in Jakarta on Wednesday overturned the acquittals handed down by the high court in the case of administrator Neil Bantleman, who also holds British nationality, and teaching assistant Ferdinad Tjiong, a court spokesman said.

Their sentences were increased to 11 years each, one year more than their original terms of 10 years handed down last year, for abusing young children at the school, said spokesman Suhadi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

“We believe Jakarta high court made a mistake in applying the law,” he said, adding the judges decided the evidence in the original case had been “sufficient and convincing”.

Tjiong was returned to jail early Thursday but authorities are still looking for Bantleman, said the South Jakarta district attorney’s office.

READ MORE: Elation as convictions are overturned in lurid Jakarta international school sex abuse case

The American ambassador to Indonesia, Robert Blake, said the United States, which has strong links to the elite Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS) and has backed the men throughout the case, was “shocked and disappointed” at the Supreme Court decision.