Police defend Newmont staff detention: Report
Monday, September 27 2004 - 12:39 AM WIB
The employees have been detained at police headquarters in the capital, Jakarta, for several days ago over accusations the gold mine of the unit, PT Newmont Minahasa Raya, polluted a bay in North Sulawesi province and people had become ill.
The United States has criticized the detention saying there was no need to hold the officials of the unit as they had fully cooperated and the detention could further harm the already weak investment climate in Indonesia.
Those detained are American Bill Long, the Minahasa site manager, Australian Phil Turner, manager for production and maintenance at the Minahasa mine, and three Indonesian staff.
"There is enough preliminary evidence for us to detain them. Whether they are guilty or not, it is the court that decides, not the police," head of the national police criminal investigation department, Suyitno Landung, told Reuters.
He declined to elaborate on the evidence.
None of those detained has been charged. Under Indonesian law the police can hold suspects for up to 20 days without charges.
"It is possible, if they are, for example, cooperative, for their families to ask for the detention to be deferred. Yes, we can defer the detention, or change it into house or city detention," Landung said.
Denver-based Newmont, the world's largest gold miner, has strenuously denied the accusations by villagers in North Sulawesi province.
Media reports this month said a government panel reported on Aug. 31 that Newmont had illegally disposed of mine waste laced with arsenic and mercury into Buyat Bay near the mine site.
In a statement this month, Newmont said it had regularly reported to the government the results of its environmental reports on the area adjacent to the Minahasa mine, which has ceased operations.
The environment ministry, the company said, had "consistently maintained" Buyat Bay was not polluted.
Police have said Newmont had been accused of violating environmental regulations that carry jail terms of up to 10 years for pollution. That rises to 15 years if people are proven to have died or become seriously ill as a result. (*)