Battery firm executives gets one year in jail

Battery firm executives gets one year in jail

JAKARTA: A court convicted on Wednesday two executives of a company, which produces the ABC brand batteries, to one year in jail and a fine of Rp 100 million (about US$11,200) for dumping chemical waste into a river in North Sumatra.

The province's district court found director of PT Everbright Sumito and factory manager Darsono Halim guilty of violating government regulation No. 85/1999 on the handling of toxic waste.

The two were charged with dumping waste chemicals from the production of batteries into the Krio River.

"Although the verdict falls short of prosecutors' demand for four years in prison and a Rp 300 million fine, it still marks a victory in the battle against polluters through the court system," said head of law enforcement Sudarsono at the office of the State Minister of the Environment in Jakarta. -- Antara