Newmont case set for trial

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Attorney General's Office (AGO) said on Wednesday that prosecutors have submitted a case against mining firm PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR) to the Manado District Court in North Sulawesi, hoping it will be heard within the next few weeks.

"We (the prosecutors) have submitted the case to the Manado District Court. Usually, the court can arrange the first hearing for within seven days," Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh said after a closed-door meeting at the Office of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs.

Meanwhile, National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, who also attended the meeting, said the suspects in the environmental pollution case would be charged under the Criminal Code.

"We are charging the company's executives," Da'i said.

He, however, refused to disclose the names of the suspects.

The main agenda of Wednesday's meeting was to discuss legal measures taken by the government against NMR, which has been accused of polluting Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi.

In mid February, NMR, a local unit of the U.S.-based mining giant Newmont, demanded that police halt their investigation into the case after a North Sulawesi doctor, Jane Pangemanan, retracted here initial claims against the firm.

The police had previously named six executives of NMR as suspects in the case. The six executives were banned from going abroad, pending the legal process against them.