Newmont officials out of jail, on probation (October 25, 2004)

The five officials of Newmont Minahasa Raya arrested in Jakarta over allegations of pollution will be released from a downtown jail after being held for more than a month. However, the men will not be free to leave the city.

Their status is being changed to “city detention under the supervision of the North Sulawesi police,” Brigadier General Suharto, director of the national police special crime unit, tells Reuters.

The officials will, in effect, be on probation, with their movements restricted to the areas in which they live in. They will have to report to police at regular intervals.

Newmont Minahasa Raya, a subsidiary of Newmont Mining (NEM-N), is being investigated over accusations its gold mine had polluted a nearby bay, causing sickness among residents. Charges of breaching environmental regulations carry jail terms of up to 15 years in Indonesia if people are proved to have died or become seriously ill as a result of pollution.

Newmont Minahasa Raya company strongly denies the accusations.U.S. Ambassador Ralph Boyce has said jailing the men for questioning was inappropriate because they and the company were co-operating with the investigation.

Four of the executives were arrested on Sept. 23; the fifth, a day later. None has been charged.

One of the detainees is American, site manager William Long; another is Australian, maintenance and production manager Philip Turner. The others are Indonesian: David Sompie, external relations manager; Jerry Kojansow, environmental superintendent; and Putra Wijayantri, superintendent of waste processing.

Although several environmental groups insist the pollution levels near the former mine pose severe health risks, several government and independent studies found no evidence of serious pollution.

Local prosecutors are considering charging the men.