Police to summon Nabiel next week over Buyat case
Police to summon Nabiel next week over Buyat case
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The police have summoned former environment minister Nabiel
Makarim for questioning as a witness in connection with the
alleged pollution of Buyat Bay, North Sulawesi.
A police investigator said on Friday the summons was sent to
Nabiel on Friday, informing him of the purpose of the
questioning, which is scheduled for next week.
"We will question Pak Nabiel as a witness, representing the
government," Comr. Sulis Andriatmoko said.
The police do not need presidential approval to question
Nabiel following the completion of his term as a minister on
Wednesday. The law requires the police or prosecutors to obtain
presidential consent to interrogate state officials, including
ministers and legislators.
"Pak Nabiel is now an ordinary citizen, therefore we don't
need to wait for permission from the President," he said.
The police changed their plan to question Nabiel early this
month, citing the absence of then president Megawati
Soekarnoputri's approval.
Nabiel's summons came just a few days after he released a
government report dated Oct. 14 stating that Buyat Bay was not
contaminated.
Earlier tests conducted by the police revealed, however, heavy
metal content in the baywater that exceeded standards set by the
Office of the State Minister of the Environment. The findings
prompted the police to name six top Newmont Minahasa Raya
executives suspects in the case and detain five of them.
The police also played down the government's report, saying
they would stick to their findings.
On Wednesday, several non-governmental organizations (NGO)
accused Nabiel of misleading the public by releasing an
unapproved report. They said the results released by Nabiel to
several national and international media were partial and did not
represent the government-sanctioned joint team assigned to probe
the alleged pollution of the bay.
Nabiel responded to the NGOs' claim, saying the information
should published as the public had the right to it. He said the
test results were not the monopoly of the technical team but also
belonged to society.
The North Sulawesi Prosecutor's Office has returned the case
files of the six suspects, who include Newmont president director
Richard Ness, asking the police for expert verification of the
method they used to take samples in their field research in
August.
Other tests conducted by other institutions concluded the bay
was not polluted.