Newmont criticises Indonesian pollution charges

US mining giant Newmont has hit out at criminal charges filed by Indonesian prosecutors against six of its employees in a pollution case, including an Australian, saying the company and not its staff, should stand trial, AFP reported.

The case is being closely scrutinised by overseas investors who see it as a test of Indonesia's unpredictable legal system under new President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who has promised to smooth the way for foreign firms.

Robert Gallagher, vice president of the Denver-based firm's Indonesian arm, said the company was willing to defend itself against claims one of its mines on Sulawesi island made nearby villagers ill through the dumping of toxins.

He said Indonesia's legal system was wrong in implicating the six, including Newmont executive Richard Ness, and five others who spent more than a month in detention last year.

"We want them to be disassociated from the case," Mr Gallagher told reporters.

"This is our number one objective."

The criminal case centres around a now defunct mine in Sulawesi's Buyat Bay, where villagers living nearby complained to police that waste dumped in the sea and air was responsible for neurological and skin complaints.

Newmont has fiercely denied the charges, saying that it disposed of toxins safely and that levels of mercury and arsenic found around the mine were well within acceptable levels, but studies have produced conflicting results.

The five employees were arrested last year in a police investigation that was subsequently deemed illegal as the matter fell within the realms of civil litigation.

However an appeal reinstated the criminal case, and a travel ban was slapped on Ness and the other five, who include an American and an Australian and three Indonesians.

Meanwhile Newmont is also facing a civil lawsuit by the environment ministry, which is seeking 1.24 trillion rupiah in damages from the company.

Gallagher said the world's biggest gold miner was looking forward to defending its position at the trial.

Newmont external affairs manager Robert Humberson said the case has had no impact on its operations elsewhere in Indonesia, but declined to say whether that includes long-term investment plans.

Humberson added that Newmont plans to release within weeks a study on the impact of its operations on the community.

The study was conducted by independent scientists using data from, among other things, the results of an internal audit ordered by Newmont's headquarters, he said.(*)