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Supreme Court re- sentences JIS teachers to 11 years
Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS) teachers Neil Bentleman (left) and Ferdinant Tjiong await their court hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on April 3, 2015
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span class="inline inline-center">Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS) teachers Neil Bentleman (left) and Ferdinant Tjiong await their court hearing at the South Jakarta District Court on April 3, 2015. Judges sentenced Bentleman and Tjiong to 10 years in prison and fined them Rp 100 million each for sexual assault.(JP/Awo)
The Supreme Court has overturned the Jakarta High Court verdict that freed two convicted teachers at the Jakarta Intercultural School for sexual assault.
The panel of judges at the Supreme Court, comprising chief judge Artidjo Alkostar and judges Suhadi and Salman Luthan, approved the appeal filed by prosecutors and sentenced Canadian Neil Bantlemen and Indonesian Ferdinand Tjiong to 11 years in prison on Wednesday.
"The Supreme Court believes that it has been proven [that two defendants perpetrated sexual harrasment] and it has sentenced them to 11 years," Judge Suhadi told Antara news agency on Thursday.
The panel of judges agreed with the verdict issued by the South Jakarta district court in April last year that sentenced the two teachers to 10 years in prison.
After receiving the district court verdict the two defendants filed an appeal to Jakarta High Court, which overturned the guilty verdict and acquitted them of all charges.
The prosecutors then filed an appeal to the Supreme Court which added another year to their initial prison sentence.
The sexual assault case began after a report from the parents of a student of the high-class international school in April 2014.
The parents reported that their 6-year-old kindergarten student was sexually assaulted by members of the school's cleaning staff, which was followed by claims that the teachers had also abused students. (rin)(+)
