Canadian teacher had maintained he was innocent of child sex abuse charges
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."
Bantleman thanked his brother Guy "for the tremendous amount of time, effort and love that he poured into campaigning for my return." He also expressed "deep appreciation to the Government of Canada for their steadfast commitment to seeing us home.
"Most of all, I want to thank my wife Tracy. I have no doubt that without her love and commitment, this day would not have been possible. Her tireless efforts with the coordination and communication between our legal team, school, embassy and family in Canada was the key to securing my freedom."
Guy Bantleman told CBC News today the experience of hugging his brother after such a long separation was "almost surreal."
"It's going to take some time. All of us just spending some time together and ... getting reacquainted, I guess," he said, laughing.
"We're relieved, obviously. There are some things that we know we're going to have to work through. It's moving on to a different phase. You just don't close the door and settle back in. You've got to deal with it and move it forward."
Bantleman was convicted along with Indonesian teaching assistant Ferdinand Tjiong in 2014 on charges of sexually assaulting young students at the Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS), where the children of many expatriates, diplomats and wealthy Indonesians are enrolled.
He and his co-accused were sentenced to 10 years in prison. Bantleman's conviction was overturned in August 2015. Indonesia's Supreme Court reinstated his conviction in February 2016 and added another year to his sentence.
Bantleman, who taught in Calgary as well, has maintained his innocence and the Canadian government has been lobbying hard for his release, arguing he was the victim of a miscarriage of justice. An investigation by CBC TV's The Fifth Estate found that critical pieces of the evidence used to convict were seriously flawed.