JP\/4\/newmont<\/p>\n
Police finish questioning Newmont suspects<\/p>\n
Abdul Khalik
\nThe Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The say they have completed their questioning of all the suspects
\nfrom PT Newmont Minahasa Raya charged with polluting Buyat Bay in
\nSouth Minahasa, North Sulawesi, and will soon forward their case
\nfiles to the prosecutors.<\/p>\n
"We will hand over their files within a week to the North
\nSulawesi Prosecutor's Office," National Police director of
\nspecial crimes Brig. Gen. Suharto said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
He said the files on the six suspects, including Newmont
\npresident director Richard B. Ness, had been rounded off with
\nexplanations from environmental law expert Muladi.<\/p>\n
"He (Muladi) said that Newmont could be charged with corporate
\ncrimes over the Buyat case," Suharto said.<\/p>\n
He said all the suspects had been charged under Articles 41,
\n42, 43 and 46 of Law No. 23\/1997, which carry a maximum penalty
\nof 10 years in prison and a Rp 1 billion fine.<\/p>\n
Separately, Newmont lawyer Lutfi Yazid continued to press on
\nThursday for the release of his clients, saying they would
\ncontinue to cooperate fully with the police investigation if
\nreleased.<\/p>\n
"We will always cooperate with the police. We have never tried
\nto destroy or tamper with evidence. That's why we are asking the
\npolice to release our clients," he said.<\/p>\n
Lutfi said Newmont had guaranteed that all five of its
\ndetained employees would make no effort to evade the legal
\nprocess should they be freed.<\/p>\n
But Suharto said the police would not release the suspects
\nuntil after they had fully completed their case files.<\/p>\n
The five Newmont employees -- American Bill Long, Australian
\nPhil Turner and three Indonesians, David Sompie, Jerry Kojansow
\nand Putra Jayatri -- have been detained at National Police
\nHeadquarters since last week.<\/p>\n
Ness was briefly detained but released due to health concerns.
\nHe has been required to report twice a week to the police -- on
\nMondays and Thursdays.<\/p>\n
Based on the Criminal Law Procedures Code, police can detain a
\na suspect for 20 days and extend the detention period for a
\nfurther month if this is deemed necessary. Through his lawyer or
\nfamily members, a suspect has the right to request his release on
\nthe local equivalent of bail. But it is up to the investigators
\nwhether to accept or reject the request.<\/p>\n
A police source said that it was National Police chief Gen.
\nDa'i Bachtiar who had ordered the release of Ness after the
\nNewmont president produced a medical report from a doctor in
\nSingapore showing he suffered from clogged arteries.<\/p>\n
The source also said the police had obtained all the relevant
\ndocuments regarding the company's operations and the disposal of
\nits tailings, including an Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) from
\nthe Office of the State Minister of the Environment.<\/p>\n
"We have all the necessary documents for the case to go to
\ntrial. They (the suspects) have admitted that their ERA was
\nrejected by the state minister for the environment," he claimed.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, parent company Newmont Mining Corp., the world's
\nlargest gold producer, said on Wednesday it was confident an
\nindependent probe would absolve it of any blame for pollution in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
"We are anxiously awaiting for it obviously and will just wait
\nto see what that has to say," company spokesman Doug Hock was
\nquoted by AFP as saying in a telephone interview from Newmont's
\nColorado headquarters.<\/p>\n
Hock was referring to a World Health Organization (WHO)-backed
\nprobe ordered by Jakarta last month into whether the company's
\nlocal unit, Newmont Minahasa Raya, was linked to any arsenic or
\nmercury poisoning as claimed by residents living around Buyat
\nBay.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/jp4newmont-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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