J

uly 31, p2

The Singapore High Court has awarded material compensation to the Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS) and two of its teachers in a defamation case against the mother of one of three alleged victims of sexual abuse.

The court ordered the mother to pay S$130,000 in damages to Canadian Neil Bantleman and Indonesian Ferdinant Tjiong and S$100,000 in damages to JIS and its principal

Your comments:

I'€™m confused '€” why is the case being heard in Singapore? Did Bentleman and Ferdinant file a case there? How can a Singaporean court rule on a case that occurred in another country?

Anyway, although this won'€™t really alter the teachers'€™ situation, it will at least, we can hope, give them a moral boost.

Sudarsana Chakra

This ruling is for a case launched against one of the mothers for libel and slander.

She used electronic communications while she was in Singapore to spread libelous and slanderous accusations, so the case had to be tried in the country where the communications originated from.

Singapore has very strict laws on libel and slander. The decision of the court essentially states that her comments had no basis and should not have been made. The case in Indonesia goes on.

Chotto Matte

Amazing, isn'€™t it, how two courts in two countries can have such widely differing perspectives on the same case?

Willo