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Indonesian Children to Appeal Gambling Verdict
Dessy Sagita | July 30, 2009

The Tangerang District Court on Monday found 10 schoolboys guilty of gambling in a controversial ruling that sparked outrage among child welfare activists. (AFP Photo) The Tangerang District Court on Monday found 10 schoolboys guilty of gambling in a controversial ruling that sparked outrage among child welfare activists. (AFP Photo)
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The legal counsel for the 10 children recently convicted of gambling but freed by the Tangerang District Court will appeal the verdict, one of the lawyers said on Thursday.

“Tomorrow [Friday] we will register our appeal with the Tangerang court and we will file the documents immediately,” said Ricky Gunawan, one of the children’s lawyers.

Ricky said the children’s families wanted to file an appeal to protect their children’s futures.

He said the court’s verdict could damage the children’s prospects for finding good jobs when they grew up.

“Though they were returned to their parents, their criminal records would make it difficult for them to obtain the SKCK [letter of good behavior],” he said, referring to a document often required by potential employers.

Ricky said the children were already having to deal with the taunts of their friends, calling them criminals.

He said the defense lawyers were gathering additional testimony, including expert opinions from psychologists, to support their appeal.

“We will emphasize that the children were merely tossing coins to play, and that there was no gambling,” Ricky said.

Arist Merdeka Sirait, secretary general of the National Commission for Child Protection (Komnas Anak), said the commission would help the children in resuming their delayed education. Arist said Komnas Anak would cooperate with the Ministry of Social Affairs to assess how best to reintegrate the children back into school.

More important, he said, the commission will provide them with counseling to help them deal with the trauma of having been kept in detention for 29 days.

“We will also go to Polri [National Police] to report the alleged abuse they suffered while in detention,” he said.

Arist said the commission would also likely report the prosecutors who handled the children’s case and ordered them to remain in detention for nearly a month.

The 10 boys, aged 12 to 16, were arrested at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on May 29 after police claimed they were betting Rp 1,000 (10 cents) on coin tosses and shining shoes without a license.

Prosecutors and police were publicly criticized for treating the children like hardened criminals, and were mocked for having the boys wear festive masks, ostensibly to hide their identities, when they appeared in court.