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.