Indonesia Court Says Newmont Detentions Illegal
Date: 24-Dec-04
Country: INDONESIA
But the court said its decision had no bearing on plans by prosecutors to bring a pollution case against the executives and subsidiary PT Newmont Minahasa Raya to trial.
The case involves allegations surrounding mercury and arsenic levels in Buyat Bay near one of Newmont's mines in the far north of Sulawesi island, 2,200 km (1,400 miles) northeast of Jakarta.
"The court rules the detention, extension of detention, city detention and order for regular reporting to police are not legal," judge Yohannes E. Binti said.
He said the detentions of the five employees -- an Australian, a US citizen and three Indonesians -- had not followed correct procedures for environmental cases.
"For the prosecutors, this will not affect the case," said Suhandoyo, a spokesman for the attorney-general's office.
The five spent a month at police headquarters in Jakarta without formal charges being laid until their release in October and were subsequently ordered not to leave the North Sulawesi city of Manado. Under Indonesian law, police can hold suspects for up two months without formal charges.
Newmont, the world's top gold producer, denies any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors have said they expect to file charges under environmental laws against six Newmont executives -- the five earlier detained and one other who was not taken into custody because of health reasons -- and Newmont's local subsidiary next month.
Police completed the final dossier on the case on Thursday.
A government-commissioned probe concluded last month that sediment in Buyat Bay, near a gold mine run by Minahasa Raya, had significant levels of arsenic and mercury.
Two earlier studies -- one by the Indonesian government and another by the World Health Organisation -- concluded Buyat Bay was not polluted.
A Newmont spokesman said on Wednesday the firm had released 33 tonnes of mercury into the bay and atmosphere over 4- years but that the toxic emissions were not at levels harmful to people or the environment and were in line with Indonesian regulations.