U.S. criticizes arrests of Newmont executives<\/p>\n
Sari P. Setiogi and Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The United States Embassy has criticized the Indonesian police
\nfor detaining without charge several executives of P.T. Newmont
\nMinahasa Raya, a mining company with its headquarters in Denver,
\nin the U.S.<\/p>\n
In a press statement released on Friday, the embassy warned
\nthe move could further harm the investment climate in the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
\"We respect the independence of Indonesia's judicial system,
\nbut feel very strongly that the detention of PT Newmont employees
\nis inappropriate,\" the statement says.<\/p>\n
The statement came while National Police investigators
\nquestioned Newmont president Richard Ness for a second time in as
\nmany days over allegations the company dumped hazardous waste
\ninto Buyat bay in North Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
The police have named six Newmont executives suspects in the
\npollution case and jailed five of them, including American site
\nmanager Bill Long and Australian production and maintenance
\nmanager Phil Turner.<\/p>\n
\"Throughout the investigation, PT Newmont has fully cooperated
\nand made their staff available to the Indonesian authorities,\"
\nthe U.S. embassy said.<\/p>\n
Newmont lawyer TM Luthfi Yazid said police agreed to suspend
\nthe detention of Ness as he was suffering from a swollen aorta.
\nLuthfi said, Ness needed therapy to keep his blood pressure low
\nor undergo surgery.<\/p>\n
Police are considering possible charges related to a violation
\nof article 46 of Environment Law No. 23\/1997 on corporate crime
\nto implicate Ness.<\/p>\n
Luthfi said police should not have detained the Newmont
\nexecutives as they had been cooperative so far.<\/p>\n
\"We will always cooperate with the authorities and follow all
\nlegal procedures. Long, for example, came back from abroad on
\nTuesday evening to Indonesia to meet the police summons,\" said
\nLuthfi.<\/p>\n
Also on Friday, police were unable to question State Minister
\nfor the Environment Nabiel Makarim as the investigators were not
\ngiven presidential consent to investigate a member of her
\nCabinet.<\/p>\n
Indonesian law requires the police or prosecutors to seek the
\npresident's approval to question high-ranking state officials,
\nincluding ministers.<\/p>\n
National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said the police might
\nscrap Nabiel from their list of witnesses to be questioned. He
\nsaid the investigators would instead quiz the minister's deputies
\nor other staff to tell the police whether Newmont had regularly
\nreported its disposal waste system.<\/p>\n
Newmont has been accused of polluting Buyat bay, where it has
\nbeen dumping tailings since 1996. The police said their forensic
\ntests found that the level of heavy metals in Buyat bay exceeded
\nthe safety levels set by the State Minister for the Environment
\nOffice.<\/p>\n
The company has denied the allegations and backed up their
\ndenials with other independent tests, which proved the bay was
\nnormal, but media reports have shown pictures of villagers living
\nclose to the mine with skin diseases and large lumps they claimed
\nwere caused by pollution from the mine. Newmont blames the
\nillnesses on local miners who do use heavy metals in their
\nprocessing.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/us-criticizes-arrests-of-newmont-executives-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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