Neil Bantleman: His brother has provided a brief media update noting that a formal judicial review cannot be launched until a decision is released by the Supreme Court in Indonesia; One interesting revelation: The Australian Broadcasting Company will be airing a two part series on the case in mid-June. ...Separate matter from update: "On a disturbing note, the Indonesian government appears to be intensifying an extraordinary PR campaign in a bid to justify the patently wrongful conviction and detention as is evident from the Sydney Morning Herald story at the link below - "Indonesian minister says evidence against international school staff is strong."..."Indonesia's chief security minister says he will show the ambassadors of four countries - including Australia - solid evidence against teachers and cleaners accused of sexual abuse at a prestigious international school."

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:  On May, 20, 2016, Guy Bantleman  released a brief media update on his brother Neil's detention in a Indonesian prison, as follows: "We anticipate the written decision from the Supreme Court by the end of May. If the decision is not received, our Defense Team will send a letter to the Supreme Court to get an update on the process; once the decision is received, the formal Judicial Review will be filed within two weeks; Neil is comfortable and in relatively good health; his spirits are strong; May 30th will mark Neil's second birthday in prison; he will be 47; there have been a number of reports from various commissions and groups in Indonesia opining on this entire case, and asking for great transparency and investigation of the entire saga;  several groups in Indonesia have also formed to demand information and an investigation into this entire case; the voices of these groups are getting stronger and louder; support inside Indonesia is at an all time high; continued support from Global Affairs in Ottawa and the Canadian Embassy in Jakarta; the Australian Broadcasting Company will be airing a two part series on this case in mid June;  I will be in Ottawa this weekend to attend the Indonesian festival on May 22nd and 23rd; The event is being put on by the Indonesian Embassy and will highlight food, culture and tourism in Indonesia; I will be there to continue to raise awareness for this case and gain support."......... Separate Matter noted by editor HL):  On a disturbing note, the Indonesian government appears to have launched an extraordinary PR campaign in a bid to justify the patently wrongful conviction and detention as is evident from the Sydney Morning Herald story at the  link below - "Indonesian minister says evidence against international school staff is strong."..."Indonesia's chief security minister says he will show the ambassadors of four countries - including Australia - solid evidence against teachers and cleaners accused of sexual abuse at a prestigious international school. Canadian teacher Neil Bantleman and Indonesian teacher's aide Ferdinant Tjiong had their prison sentences for sodomy at the Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS) reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal in February this year. The shock decision attracted international ire because it was at odds with that made by the Jakarta High Court, which acquitted the men in 2015. Chief Security Minister Luhut Panjaitan said he had asked the Jakarta Police to brief him on the case after ambassadors had complained. He said he would invite the ambassadors from Canada, Australia, the US and Britain to see the evidence. "We will invite the respected ambassadors because they insisted that we were wrong," Mr Panjaitan said. "We try to deal with the JIS case seriously, we don't want to be accused on baseless grounds. In a short time we will invite the four ambassadors who complained about the case to see the evidence so they will believe in our law and trust our credibility. We don't want to be repeatedly accused of (mishandling cases). We are not a banana republic." US Ambassador to Indonesia Robert Blake's statement at the time was remarkable in its forthright condemnation. "We are shocked and disappointed by the decision announced by the Supreme Court to sentence two international school teachers," he said.........Asked if he was aware the international community was following the case, Mr Panjaitan said: "I don't care, you know I trust my own people, we have strong evidence so we'll prove it. We will show them this is the strong evidence from the government of Indonesia. Why do we have to care so much about the critics when we have strong evidence?" The teachers' legal team have said they will lodge a judicial review to ask the Supreme Court to review and examine how the law had been implemented. They said a medical document from a hospital in Belgium said one of the alleged victims had never contracted a sexually transmitted disease as had been claimed. The legal team also claims a medical examination of one of the alleged victims in Singapore showed no signs of sexual abuse. But Mr Panjaitan questioned the need to go as far as Belgium for evidence. "We have independent doctors, forensic experts, specialists on genetic diseases," he said.""

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.smh.com.au/world/indonesian-minister-says-evidence-against-international-school-staff-is-strong-20160520-gp07ds.html

See the CBC story (March 12)  on Guy Bantleman's fight to secure his brother Neil's freedom at the link below; "While Neil Bantleman sits inside a prison cell in Indonesia for a crime he says he didn't commit, his brother Guy is meeting with government officials in Ottawa, looking for a way to bring Neil home. Guy Bantleman and his partner Janet Gallucci travelled to the nation's capital on Wednesday to speak with members of parliament and other government officials about Neil. Neil Bantleman and Indonesian assistant teacher Ferdinand Tjiong were originally sentenced to 10 years in prison, charged with sexually abusing children at a private school in Jakarta in 2014. In August 2015, they were acquitted by the Jakarta High Court and released after nearly a year behind bars. Last month, the Supreme Court overturned that acquittal and added an extra year to each of their sentences. Guy said he's already spoken to a number of members of parliament including Judy Sgro, from York West; Len Webber, from Calgary Confederation and Karina Gould, from Burlington.
"I want them to continue to escalate Neil's case and highlight what's gone on and how inhumane it is, how unjust it is," he said in a phone interview. Friday afternoon he was to meet with officials from Global Affairs Canada to keep pushing his brother's case into the spotlight. He said the Indonesian legal system "doesn't have the wherewithal to solve this problem." The only way we're going to bring Neil home is through some sort of diplomatic solution, he said, but it needs to happen sooner rather than later. "We're past the stage of the 'wait and see.' We need to take action and move this forward as quick as possible."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/guy-bantleman-fights-for-his-brother-s-freedom-in-ottawa-1.3487511

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com;

Harold Levy;

Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;