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Mataram, West Nusa Tengarra. A lawyer for Australian expatriate Paul Robson has vehemently denied accusations by four residents of West Lombok district that his client sexually abused them.

The four, who claimed they had been sodomized five years earlier while employed by Robson in an unnamed hotel, attempted to file a complaint against him on Monday, but West Nusa Tenggara Police rejected the complaint and no investigation is under way.

On Friday, Hijrat Prajitno, Robson’s lawyer, said the allegations were “all lies and defamation.”

“Paul has taken serious offense to those allegations and will file a suit against those behind them, including those who tried to press charges against him,” he said.

“Paul categorically denies ever knowing these people making the allegations, much less employing them.”

He said the allegations, which were reported in various local media including the Jakarta Globe, had sullied Robson’s reputation and offended him and his family.

He added that Robson’s wife, Deborah, had threatened to press charges against those who tried to report her husband to the police.

Hijrat said the case was particularly hurtful since Robson was in Lombok on behalf of the Australian government to invest up to Rp 28 billion ($3.1 million).

He said his client was convinced the allegations were part of a smear campaign by a business rival trying to get him expelled from Lombok.

Hijrat said Robson and his wife had moved to Lombok in 2007 — long after the dates given for the alleged sexual abuse by the four plaintiffs.

In addition to the lawyer’s response, a group of 22 prominent Lombok residents wrote to the Jakarta Globe this week to take offense to the allegations.

They noted that “Paul Robson has NEVER owned or managed a hotel” in Lombok, despite the claims of the alleged victims, and they called the previous Globe article an “incredible defamation.”

The letter writers called Robson “a well known and respected member of the expat community” in Lombok and said they also believed the charges stemmed from a business dispute.

Toni Hobim, a lawyer for the four men, said the plaintiffs remained adamant that Robson had lived in Lombok for at least seven years.

He said he welcomed legal action by Robson, but insisted his side would continue trying to press charges against the Australian.

He said his side had informed the National Police of the case, and would try once again to file a complaint with the West Nusa Tenggara Police in the near future.

Police rejected the original complaint against Robson.

In Robson’s defense, the letter writers stated, “Why is it that an expatriate, contributing to the economy and living in Indonesia legally, has to live in fear of a destroyed reputation resulting from unsubstantiated slurs and rumors printed in the National Press?”

They accused the Globe of failing to check the story. The result, they said, was that “a person’s reputation has been destroyed.”

 
The Jakarta Globe Apologizes

The Tuesday, Nov. 16, edition of the Jakarta Globe carried a story headlined “Lombok Hotel Staff Struggle to Have Aussie Boss Charged with Sexual Abuse.” It contained allegations of sexual misconduct against Lombok resident Paul Robson, noting that a complaint filed with local police had been rejected. The story carried details of the unproven accusations and also said it was “not known” if Robson was in the country. We failed to give Robson or his representatives the chance to comment, which was unfair. Neither did we do an adequate job of trying to confirm the story details. We apologize for our oversight.  JG Editors