Manado court rejects Newmont request<\/p>\n
Jongker Rumteh, The Jakarta Post, Manado<\/p>\n
A Manado court rejected a request from a local subsidiary of
\nU.S.-based Newmont Mining Corp and its American president
\ndirector to drop the controversial pollution case on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The court, presided over by judge Ridwan Damanik, ruled that
\nPT Newmont Minahasa Raya and Richard Ness had failed to prevent
\nthe dumping of toxic waste into a bay near a now-defunct gold
\nmine.<\/p>\n
"The first defendant (Newmont) has violated Law 23\/\/1997 on
\nthe environment," Ridwan stated while reading the prosecutor's
\nindictment. "The prosecutor also finds that the second defendant
\n(Ness) did not prevent the occurrence of pollution in Buyat Bay,"
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
In criminal trials, the courts make a decision on whether to
\nproceed once both sides have presented initial arguments. It is
\nrare for cases to be thrown out.<\/p>\n
During a hearing on Aug. 19, lawyers representing the company
\nurged the court to dismiss the case, saying the police
\ninvestigation was flawed. However, prosecutors told the court on
\nSept. 6 they had a strong pollution case and would prove the
\ncompany's local unit and American chief had violated
\nenvironmental laws.<\/p>\n
The charges relate to the company's tailings disposal
\nprocesses, which allegedly involved dumping mercury and arsenic
\ninto Buyat Bay, causing health problems for villagers.<\/p>\n
Newmont has denied the charges in a case that foreign
\ninvestors mostly view as evidence of the legal uncertainty that
\nexists in the country, while environmentalists see it as a test
\ncase for the government, which has been accused of being lax in
\nenforcing environmental laws, especially toward multinational
\ncompanies due to its need of foreign investment.<\/p>\n
During Tuesday's hearing, which was held at Manado municipal
\nhall, the defendants' legal team expressed objections toward the
\nindictment, which they argued was legally flawed. The lawyers
\nalso found the prosecutors failed to provide details on the
\nsecond defendant's crime.<\/p>\n
But the court turned down the objections. "The court finds the
\nobjections expressed by the first and second defendants' legal
\nteam are part of the case materials so we reject it and order the
\nproceedings to go on," Ridwan said.<\/p>\n
The defendants' team of lawyers, represented by Luhut
\nPangariabuan and Palmer Situmorang, said they would appeal the
\ndecision or take it to a higher court.<\/p>\n
Despite the plan to appeal, the five-judge panel adjourned the
\nhearing until Oct. 7, 2005 where the prosecutors will present
\ntheir first witnesses.<\/p>\n
The argument arose when the defendants' legal team wanted the
\nprosecutors to reveal the names of the witnesses but it was
\nrejected.<\/p>\n
"This court proceeding is an open one and in the name of
\njustice, everything should be in the open," Palmer insisted.<\/p>\n
The judge finally agreed and asked prosecutors to mention the
\nwitnesses' names before the next hearing.<\/p>\n
Ness said after the hearing he did not yet see evidence or any
\nindication of heavy metal pollution in Buyat Bay and was not sure
\nwhat he was charged with. He said he was planning to take the
\ncase to international arbitration.<\/p>\n
"We're seriously considering taking this case to international
\narbitration and we're currently discussing it with our legal
\nteam," said Ness.<\/p>\n
Ness could face a jail sentence of up to 10 years and be fined
\naround US$68,000 if convicted. Newmont also faces a $133 million
\ncivil case over the alleged pollution.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/manado-court-rejects-newmont-request-1447893297",
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