Lawyers conspired with Newmont: Locals

Lawyers conspired with Newmont: Locals

Tony Hotland and Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

What started as a collective struggle was replaced with a battle
of words when Buyat Bay residents accused their lawyers of
conspiring with gold miner PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR), which
has been accused of polluting the North Sulawesi bay.

On Friday, the dispute resulted in a decision by the residents
to replace their attorneys from the Legal Aid Institute for
Health (LBHK), which had unilaterally arranged a settlement in a
Rp 5 trillion (US$537.34 million) civil suit filed by three Buyat
residents against the U.S. mining firm.

Anwar Stirman, a Buyat resident, alleged that the lawyers had
agreed to a settlement with Newmont that disadvantaged the three
plaintiffs -- Rashit Rahmat, Masna Stirman and Juhria Ratumbahe.
The three insist they were not consulted about the settlement.

The South Jakarta District Court stated on Wednesday that the
residents had agreed there was no evidence that mine tailings
from Newmont's activities were the cause of any diseases they
suffer.

Meanwhile, Newmont had agreed to withdraw a separate
defamation suit against Iskandar Sitorus of LBHK, the court said.

The plaintiffs and the lawyers had previously intended to
settle the case amicably, but under the condition that Newmont
fulfill their demands for financial assistance in, among other
things, health and education needs during a period of time.

The lawyers said the residents had mulled over settling the
case given the possibility of a lengthy period of court trials
and of losing the case. Furthermore, they had also discussed
compensation worth some $6 million in health coverage from
Newmont.

However, said Anwar, the contents of the court statement was
different from the deal they had discussed. The court also did
not require Newmont to provide compensation for the villagers.

He alleged that their lawyers had manipulated them and altered
the initial agreement. Therefore, Anwar said the plaintiffs would
appoint new lawyers and file a new suit.

On the contrary, Iskandar claimed the plaintiffs had signed a
deal containing the exact same information as in the court
statement.

"If they say it's different, then they're lying. They signed
the agreement in front of other Buyat people," he said.

Sitorus said his team had planned to discuss the verdict later
on with the Buyat people and Newmont, as well as to calculate and
formulate the health coverage for around 250 sick residents.

However, Newmont lawyer Mochamad Kasmali told The Jakarta Post
there was never any deal nor discussion about the firm paying
health coverage for Buyat people.

He also denied any allegations of conspiracy with the lawyers.

Oddly, neither the lawyers, Newmont nor Anwar possess a single
copy of the agreement signed by the plaintiffs.

Despite the surprising court statement, which follows the
recent victory by Newmont in a lawsuit that concluded the police
investigation into the case was illegal, the Indonesian
government has said it would continue to pursue the criminal suit
against Newmont.

The first trial is expected to start in the next two weeks at
the Manado District Court, which will be presided over by select
judges who attended training programs in environmental laws.