“The Majma'al Bahrain Shiddiqiyah Pesantren in Jombang, East Java, can now resume their normal activities,” Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs and ad interim Religious Affairs Minister Muhadjir Effendy announced here on Tuesday.
He said that he has also instructed the Religious Affairs Ministry's acting secretary general, Aqil Irham, to manage the cancellation of the license revocation.
The ministry had earlier revoked the operating permit of the Islamic boarding school following allegations of sexual violence by a school leader against five students, he noted.
Effendy said that the permit has been restored as the sexual violence case implicated only one school leader, who has been arrested by police, and the boarding school institution had no involvement in the case.
"Those who attempted to obstruct officers (have also been arrested)," he added.
It is necessary to restore the permit to protect the rights of other pesantren students to continue their education, he said.
The coordinating minister expressed the hope that residents would understand that the operational permit restoration seeks to provide legal clarity to boarding school students and their parents regarding educational activities at the school.
"I hope residents would understand the government's decision," Effendy said.
One of the school leaders, identified by his initials as MSAT, was implicated for perpetrating sexual violence against five pesantren students in 2017 in the school’s compound in Plandaan Sub-district, Jombang.
Though he was named a suspect in 2020, MSAT had continued to ignore police summons.
On July 7, 2022, East Java Police had spent almost a day conducting a sweeping operation at the school complex for MSAT, who was suspected to be harbored in the school compound.
MSAT surrendered himself to East Java Police at 11 p.m. that day and was taken to Medaeng Prison in Sidoarjo, East Java.
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Translator: Asep Firmansyah, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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