POLICE MAKE PROGRESS IN PROBE OVER JIS SEXUAL ASSAULT CASE by Fardah

    Jakarta, July 18, 2014 (Antara) - The Jakarta Police decision to finally detain two staffers of the Jakarta International School (JIS) in connection with a sexual assault case involving kindergarten pupils, was hailed by officials and parents.

         "We convey our appreciation to the police for tackling sexual assault cases at the JIS and other places. We see some progress," the Indonesian Commission for Child Protection (KPAI) chairman, Asrorum Niam Sholeh, remarked at the police headquarters recently.

         After grilling the two suspects identified by their initials as NB, a Canadian national, and FT, an Indonesian citizen,  and obtaining adequate evidence, the Jakarta police detained the two school staffers, who were named suspects on July 10, 2014.

       "We have decided to detain the two suspects," spokesman of the Jakarta Police senior commissioner, Rikwanto, stated in short text message recently.

        "There was a statement of a witness saying that a pupil had seen the victim being assaulted. We also have the medical report and more than two pieces of evidence," Rikwanto added.

        The police are continuing the investigation and there might be another suspect, he stated.

         The Jakarta Police had earlier named several suspects identified as Agun, Awan, Zainal, Syahrial, and a woman with the initials AS.

         Another suspect named Azwar had committed suicide in police custody.

        The suspects were outsourced janitors, who allegedly abused AK, a six-year-old kindergarten pupil in a toilet of the school in February and March 2014. The child, who was locked inside the toilet during his ordeal, contracted herpes and a bacterial infection after being sodomized.

         In addition to the AK case, the Jakarta police later also received another report of a sexual assault involving a kindergarten student identified as DA at the same international school.

        The KPAI chairman, Sholeh, expressed his relief that the police were finally able to find adequate evidence to name two JIS staffers as suspects.

         He had discussed, with the National Police, the planned revision of the law on child protection to strengthen measures against sexual abuse, Sholeh stated.

         The existing law was not strong enough to deter sexual criminals, he pointed out.

        "We will continue to coordinate and ensure that the legal process runs smoothly. Despite pressures, we hope the police will continue to work professionally, and the National Police Chief will pay special attention to it," he emphasized.

         More support for the police came from presidium chairman of the Indonesia Police Watch (IPW), Neta S Pane, who asked police to work professionally and ignore the protest made by three foreign embassies concerning the arrest of the school staffers.

        "The protest made by the three embassies is normal. The police must work professionally and proportionally. Don't be afraid of the embassies," Neta S Pane said.

          "What the police has done by arresting two JIS staffers is an appropriate step, although rather late. The police must not be afraid of arresting the foreign teachers," he said.

          Pedophilia is a serious crime and subject to heavy punishment in the three foreign countries - the US, Australia and Britain - that founded the JIS, he said.

         If the sexual assaults had happened in those countries, the perpetrators would have been punished heavily, he believed.

         The JIS management and its three founding embassies protested the detention of the two school staffers, the Jakarta Globe reported on July 15.

         "As the three founding embassies of the Jakarta International School, we are deeply concerned about the detention of several JIS teachers last night," the US, Australian and British embassies in Jakarta said in a press statement.
   "We believe JIS and its teachers have closely cooperated with police authorities, and we are surprised at these developments, given the presumption of innocence in Indonesian law," it continued.

       JIS has also voiced strong objection to the detention.

       "The accusation is baseless and without evidence - very concerning. We're disappointed and very sad," Dino Vega, a school patron, said recently.

        "We've declared, today, our commitment to supporting Neil and Ferdinan. We're calling on the police to reconsider the decision to detain them," she was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Globe.

        Both school staffers underwent physical examinations and laboratory tests at the Soekanto National Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, recently.

         Psychological examinations and lie detector tests were also scheduled for the suspects, Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said.

          The police would question the principal of the JIS kindergarten, Elsa Donohue,  a US citizen, probably as a witness in the case, he added.

         In connection with the case, the JIS Principal, Timothy Carr, and the school's kindergarten teacher, Murphy, had also been questioned earlier by police investigators.

         They were accompanied by counselor of the US Embassy in Jakarta for Consular Affairs, Thurmond H. Borden.

        Borden informed journalists that he had the right to accompany and witness the Jakarta metropolitan police investigators question a US citizen to ensure that he or she got fair treatment, and the process was carried out as ruled by the law.

         Denying that his presence in the questioning session of Murphy was an intervention in the Indonesian police investigation, he argued that accompanying a US citizen involved in a legal case was valid.

        Four JIS teachers were allegedly involved in the sexual assault case, and the police have requested the Jakarta immigration office to prevent them from leaving the country. ***1***
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