Indonesian janitors sentenced in school rape case

Five Indonesian janitors were sentenced to up to eight years in jail Monday for raping a 6-year-old boy at a school in Jakarta.

Judges threw out the four male defendants' claim of torture by police. They had confessed while in police custody, but later recanted, the Wall Street Journal reported. The trial took place behind closed doors.

The defendants were arrested in April after the kindergartner claimed to have been sodomized at the Jakarta International School. Police said a sixth suspect committed suicide while in custody by drinking bathroom cleaner.

Judges at the South Jakarta District Court issued separate verdicts Monday, concluding that all the defendants were guilty of violating the country's Child Protection Law and Criminal Code.

Four male defendants: Agun Iskandar, Virgiawan Amin, Zainal Abidin, and Syahrial, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, were sentenced to eight years in prison, while Afrischa Setyani, the only woman in the case, was sentenced to seven years as an accomplice. All the defendants had said they were innocent.

Presiding judge Mohamad Yunus said their sentences were lower than the prosecutors' recommended 10 years, Reuters reported.

The defendants were each fined $8,000 or will serve three additional months in jail.

Their lawyers contended that the evidence was weak since medical reports found the boy had no major injuries or abnormalities. Prosecutors said the boy had been sodomized up to 13 times.

"The verdicts were unfair," Patra Zein, one of the lawyers said. "We will appeal, and hopefully we will get justice from the higher courts."

Zein has claimed that Azwar, the janitor who died in police custody was tortured, the Wall Street Journal said. The newspaper added that Zen said he had submitted photos of the body of Azwar, who went by one name, to the court.

Police said he committed suicide during a break in interrogation by drinking cleaning fluid in a restroom, the Journal said.

The case has riveted the expatriate community in Jakarta since the janitors' arrests, the Journal said. The boy's parents have sued the school, which now goes by a different name, for $125 million.

Neil Bantleman, a Canadian teacher and Ferdinant Tjiong, an Indonesian teacher's assistant, went on trial over the case earlier this month. They are accused of sexually abusing the boy and two other students. Both maintain their innocence.

Following their detention, the school said in a statement that it was "very frustrated that our staff members have been detained based on allegations against them that are absolutely false and are made without evidence."

"We will continue to stand by these staff members, both of whom have exemplary professional records," it said. "We appeal to the Indonesian Police to reconsider their decision to detain both men."

The school has 2,400 students ages 3 to 18 from about 60 different countries that is attended by the children of foreign diplomats, business people and Indonesia's elite.

Contributing: Associated Press