T

he first trial hearing of Agun Iskandar, one of six outsourced cleaners from Integrated Service Solutions (ISS) Indonesia accused of sexually abusing a kindergarten student at the Jakarta International School (JIS), commenced at the South Jakarta District Court on Tuesday.

The panel of judges ordered a closed-door trial because of the victim'€™s age, as stipulated by Law No. 11/2012 on the juvenile criminal justice system.

'€œWe are charging the defendant under Article 82 of the 2002 Child Protection Law in conjunction with Articles 55 and 64 of the Criminal Code,'€ lead prosecutor Rahimah said after the 15-minute hearing adjourned.

The suspect faces a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment in total if he is found guilty of sexually abusing a minor under Article 82 of the Child Protection Law and of conducting collective and continuous crimes under Articles 55 and 64 of the Code.

The case first came to light when the mother of the victim filed a police report on April 14. The case was uncovered after the victim'€™s mother found bruises on the child'€™s stomach and anus on March 20.

Six suspects, Agun, Virgiawan Amin, Zainal Abidin, Syahrial, Afrischa Setyani and Azwar were detained. However, Azwar allegedly committed suicide while in police custody in the women and children'€™s unit in April.

The most recent statement from the Jakarta Police suggests that the suspects allegedly abused the victim on five separate occasions from February to March in the same toilets at the school. The suspects are accused of taking turns abusing the child and working systematically and cooperatively to carry out and cover up the acts.

Agun stood trial alone on Tuesday, while the remaining four suspects would face their first hearing on Wednesday. Agun'€™s lawyer, Mada R. Mardanus, said the reason behind the separate trial was only a technicality because the five shared the same case dossier.

Mada told reporters that Agun denied the accusations described in the indictment that was read out and that he has submitted a request to withdraw his statements as they are recorded in the dossier.

'€œOf course we believe that child abuse is wrong. However, we also believe that conducting a trial based on false evidence is also wrong. Agun and his coworkers didn'€™t confess to their alleged crimes and the medical examinations were inconclusive,'€ he said, adding that the suspects'€™ legal team had originally requested an open trial to increase transparency between the public and the court, but the request was denied because of the victim'€™s age.

Mada added that the ISS cleaning company had not made any effort to take responsibility for their outsourced employees.

Agun'€™s trial will continue next Wednesday when he will read his defense statement, Mada explained.

Two JIS teachers, Canadian Neil Bantleman and Indonesian Ferdinant Tjiong, were also named as suspects by the Jakarta Police in July for allegedly sexually abusing three kindergarten pupils. The two suspects have been detained since July 15, after the parents of two kindergarten students filed police reports against the teachers. They accused the two JIS staffers of sexually assaulting their sons.

The dossiers for the two suspects were recently submitted to the prosecutor'€™s office and they are expected to stand trial in the near future, police said. (fss)