NGO to report judges in sexual abuse trial

An NGO in Yogyakarta has announced plans to report to the Judicial Commission a panel of judges at Bantul District Court who acquitted a man accused of sexual abuse, saying the verdict ignored strong evidence and witnes' testimony.

“We are going to report the acquittal to the Judicial Commission soon,” Yogyakarta Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) director Irsyad Thamrin said Tuesday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Irsyad added that he failed to comprehend how the panel had failed to see testimonies of witnesses and other evidence supporting allegations that the sexual abuse occurred.

“The panel has clearly demonstrated a lack of sensitivity, let alone empathy for the victim here, by ignoring such convincing evidence,” he said.

Yamin Sani, a sports teacher at an traditional Islamic school in Pleret,Yogyakarta, was reported to police for allegedly sexually abusing one of his students, identified only by the initials NS.

Commenting on this, presiding judge Nawaji said he was more than ready to face the Judicial Commission investigation, as he was convinced to have solid grounds for his verdict.

“We mulled over this ruling very carefully. In fact, one of the judges, I Wayan Wirawati, also disagreed with the decision,” he said.