'Justice must prevail,' Neil Bantleman writes from Indonesian prison

"I am innocent... we are all innocent. There has been a grave injustice and it is time for the truth to finally be told."

This is how Neil Bantlemanbegins his latest handwrittenletter, penned on Monday, from Lapas Cipinang Prison in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The teacher fromBurlington, Ont.who also worked as a teacher in Calgary was convictedalong with Indonesian teaching assistant Ferdinand Tjiongin 2014 oncharges of abusing kindergarten students at the Jakarta Intercultural School (JIS), where the children of many expatriates, diplomatsand wealthy Indonesians are enrolled.

Six cleaners at the Jakarta Intercultural School were also arrested and convicted of sexual assault charges. One man, a 27-year-old named Azwar, was pronounced dead within 24 hours of his arrest. Indonesian police said the man committed suicide by drinking bleach, but according to investigators at the CBC'sthe fifth estate, a photo was obtained that shows the man's face badly bruised and battered, and swollen even after death.

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Neil's brother, GuyBantleman, has been updating the media on how his brother has been doing in prison. With the arrival of summer, most of Neil's friends and colleagues have left Jakarta to spendthe next few months in theirhome countries, he said. This has made Neil's life even more difficult.

An ongoing struggle

Bantlemanwasaccused of assaulting three kindergarten-aged boys between January 2013 and March2014.

He and Tjiong wereoriginally sentenced to 10 years in prison, but in August 2015, after nearly a year behind bars, the pairwere acquitted by a Jakarta High Court decision. During this time of freedom, however,Bantleman'spassport was revoked and hewas not permitted to leave the country.

In February of this year, the Indonesian Supreme Court overturned the acquittal and Bantleman and Tjiong were arrested once again. A three-member panel judge panel made the decision and added an additional year on each of their sentences.

Under Indonesian law, bothBantlemanandTijongcanchallenge the sentence by filing for judicial review with the SupremeCourt if they bring forwardnew evidence.Neil's lawyers are currently preparing a draft of thisreview and expectto file the documentin the coming months.

In a previous interview, Guy said the review will include new evidence uncovered by theCBC'sfifth estate investigation.

The Canadian government has been, and continues to be, proactive in dealing with this situation, Guy writes. The team supporting Neilhas been inregular communication with Global Affairs.

Soon after Bantlemanwas re-arrested, Foreign Affairs Minister Stphane Dion said the Canadian government was "deeply dismayed and shocked" by the Indonesian Supreme Court decision.

"This decision is unjust, given the many grave irregularities throughout the various proceedings in this case and the fact that all evidence presented by the defence has systematically been rejected," Dion said ina statement at the time.

Guy said the actions of the Canadian government and Global Affairs are making a difference, but he and his family won't be completely satisfied until Neil is back home in Canada.

'Accusations like this ruin you'

"When I found out that I have been accused of sexually abusing students at school, I was utterly shocked. I could not understand why someone I did not know would be so cruel to make false allegations against me," Neil writes in his letter.

To read his full letter, click here.

"I have never hurt a child or anyone in my life. Why a mother would want to have her child grow up believing he was sexually abused when in fact he was not, is beyond me," saidBantleman.

One parent made up this story about how I abused her son, he said. "Just one parent.Accusations like this ruin you, it ruins your career and your reputation."

The Australian Broadcasting Company has produced a two-part investigative report on Bantleman's case. The episodes are available on YouTube.