Witch hunt in Indonesia?

Two schoolteachers who were arrested for the alleged rapes of children at the prestigious Jakarta International School have been detained without charge in the police lock-up for a further month, but they have not been questioned since July 14.

Canadian teacher Neil Bantleman and Indonesian teacher’s aide Ferdinant Tjiong insist they are innocent. They are being supported in their claims by their families and the school.

Mr Bantleman said from the police prison in Jakarta on Wednesday that he believed the children making the allegations had been coached to identify a white, expatriate teacher as an abuser to increase the pressure on the school to settle a financial claim of $US125 million ($134 million).

“I think there are bigger things at play; quite possibly money, the hope of a big payoff – [the hope] that you can implicate teachers and then the school has that responsibility to pay,” he said.

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