Family of Canadian teacher arrested in Jakarta asks government for help

The troubling case of a Canadian teacher who has been arrested in Jakarta is evidence of a tricky balancing act that Canadian officials face in deciding when and how to intervene in international incidents.

Neil Bantleman, a teacher at the prestigious English-language Jakarta International School, has been arrested by police amid a massive sexual assault investigation. Jakarta police allege Bantleman and another teacher, from Indonesia, had drugged kindergarten students before sexually assaulting them.

The charges also come during an extensive months-long investigation into the school, during which six cleaners have been charged, and several others suspected, in a graphic sexual abuse case that garnered massive local attention. Most recently, a mother at the centre of that scandal has sued Jakarta International School, alleging it fraudulently portrayed itself as an accredited kindergarten.

According to the Jakarta Post, Bantleman’s lawyer and wife held a press conference at the international school last week, questioning the Jakarta police’s decision to detain the Canadian and calling the allegations unsubstantiated.

“If you are accused of murder, the police will show you the knife or the gun. My clients have not been shown any evidence,” lawyer Hotman Paris Hutapea was quoted as saying.

That incredulity was echoed by Bantleman's family in Burlington, Ont., who, according to the Canadian Press, has appealed to Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs to intervene.

It is an impossible task determining guilt or innocence from a world away, and it is not something appropriate to do, regardless. Yet when the central figure holds Canadian citizenship it is almost reflexive to react protectively.

The issue quickly becomes about "one of us" trapped "over there." That issue is compounded by the doubts attributed to the justice systems of other countries, the distance and the fear of what could happen.

For example, Indonesia returned to its embrace of capital punishment last year, after four years of progress in what appeared to be a transition away from the death penalty.

In these circumstances, it is natural for loved ones to reach for help from the Canadian government, to the highest level they can contact. While such cases are usually left to consular services, foreign affairs officials have taken an active role in the past. In this case, Canadian intervention does not appear imminent.

Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment on Bantleman's status, nor when and how officials decide whether to get involved.

[ Related: Canadian teacher detained in Jakarta jail on accusations of child sexual assault ]

According to emergency information provided by the government, Canadian officials are able to offer logistical assistance when a Canadian is arrested overseas, but cannot intervene in local investigations, get a person out of jail or "try to obtain preferential treatment" for Canadian suspects.

It will, however, request clemency for those facing the death sentence. And Foreign Affairs has in the past taken an active role is petitioning on behalf of Canadians who have been arrested or imprisoned.

In October, Minister of State (Foreign Affairs) Lynne Yelich, celebrated Canada's role in securing the release of Hamid Ghassemi-Shall, a Canadian citizen who was imprisoned for years after being arrested on espionage charges while visiting his grandmother in Teheran.

And shortly before that, the department confirmed that both Yelich and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird had been in contact with Egyptian officials regarding the fate of Canadians Tarek Loubani and John Greyson, who were arrested after reportedly accidentally breaching a national curfew imposed amid civil unrest.

Loubani and Greyson were eventually released from custody and returned to Canada, thanks in part to concerted efforts to publicize and prioritize their case.

It was noted at the time that not all detained Canadians are as lucky. Of the 1,600 Canadians reportedly detained abroad last August (that number includes prisoners in U.S. jails), only a handful would secure release and fewer yet would do so thanks to government assistance.

Still, Canadian families continue to request assistance. Earlier this year, Yelich took interest in the status of a Toronto woman held in Cuba after a fatal crash left her child dead. She shared her feelings on the case online, but left official assistance to the consulate.

The Department of Foreign Affairs gets frequent petitions and calls for assistance from Canadians overseas. And when the world is facing multiple international crises, specifically a rising death toll in Gaza and heightened tension around a Malaysian airline shot down over Ukraine, is it perhaps of little doubt the fate of one Canadian is left to the local consulate.

Though one doubts that will be much solace to Bantleman’s family.