Mining

“Today, May 15, at 11:00 am in the District Court of Central Jakarta, Dad’s Legal Counsels filed a civil claim against Jane Perlez and the New York Times Company. While talking to my Dad [Richard Ness] yesterday, I asked what prompted him to take this legal action. His response was simple:

“I have watched people in the Buyat community have their livelihoods destroyed. I have seen my friends and colleagues humiliated, questioned and detained by the police, while their wives and children were scared and embarrassed. I have seen my wife and family impacted by all the negative publicity. When I was summoned by the police who intended to arrest me, I had to reassure my wife and tell her, “Honey you have to trust me, I will be back home at some point and rest assured that we have done nothing wrong, we need to face the problem, be strong and we will get through this because truth is on our side”.

I have been accused of harming and causing the death of children, of polluting a bay by my inaction and of causing the devastation of an entire community. While in reality, I and my people had not done any wrong, the waters of Buyat bay were not polluted – in fact the criminal case brought out the facts that the Buyat waters are pristine, the fish in the bay are excellent and abundant, and the people of the region were not harmed by our operations. Yes, it did take 33 months to get the first court ruling in our favor but it’s not over yet. Over the past two and a half years we were reacting and responding to the unfair accusations leveled against us but it may now be our turn to take some action”

Read the rest of the blog post by Eric Ness here: http://www.richardness.org/link.php?link=2&id=69

And here’s a picture of me snorkling at the beautiful Buyat bay a month or so ago.

I am writing a book on the saga – on the campaign to jail Richard Ness.

I was recently in Indonesia to hear the verdict in the criminal trial of Richard Ness, an American gold miner, accused of knowingly polluting Buyat Bay, its fringing coral reefs and local villagers, with mercury and arsenic.

On the morning of the verdict, it was rumoured there would be 10,000 demonstrators, that effigies of Ness and the chief judge would be burnt, that an army platoon was on stand-by, and that the court house could be bombed.

The panel of five judges found Richard Ness not guilty on all charges. To quote from his son Eric’s blog:

“The final ruling is unambiguous because it is based primarily on substance and technical facts. When I sat in the court and listened to the ruling I noted that each of the prosecution’s evidence was rejected soundly and decisively. The Judges had applied the most objective scientific knowledge and techniques to develop their argument for each rejection of prosecution’s claim.

… It must be stated that the court’s decision was not just a simple victory where my Dad and Newmont were acquitted of any wrongdoing but the judgment had a list of more than 50 points outlining why these allegations were not only unfounded but also it categorically stated that no environmental crime was committed in Buyat by Newmont. The decision was a slam dunk in all respects yet some are still trying to spin it as a victory by technicality.”

After the reading of the verdict Richard Ness refused to be ushered out of the court room by the back door. Instead, flanked by his two sons, he descended from the court house into a throng of angry demonstrators and proudly walked up the busy boulevard.

Incredibly the Ministry of Environment is now appealling the decision.

A problem for the Indonesian government is that environmental activists, working with their friends in the local and international media, ran a convincing campaign. There had already been a successful trial by media with Ness portrayed as guilty.

Newmont has just issued a press release:

“JAKARTA, Indonesia, May 7, 2007 – An Indonesian court ruled on 24 April 2007 that PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (PTNMR), a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corporation, and its President Director Richard Ness are acquitted of all criminal charges of pollution and regulatory violations.

Ruling on evidence presented during the 21-month trial, one of the longest criminal proceedings in Indonesian history, the court held that Buyat Bay is not polluted. It further found, as PTNMR contended, that the company was in compliance with all regulations and permits during its eight years of operations from 1996 to 2004. However, the prosecutions filed an appeal in Manado Court today (7 May 2007).

Luhut MP. Pangaribuan, PTNMR legal team: “Considering that the Defendants have been acquitted of all Public Prosecutors’ indictments, then according to Article 67 and Article 244 from the Law on Criminal Procedure, an appeal is not permissible if there is a complete acquittal. Therefore, I hope that this appeal will be immediately rejected as not in accordance with the law”.

The exact wordings in the Law on Criminal Procedure are as follows:

Article 67: A defendant or public prosecutor shall have the right to appeal against a decision of a court of first instance except against a decision of acquittal, a dismissal of all charges related to a matter of inappropriate application of law and a court decision under express proceeding.

Article 244: The defendant or the public prosecutor may file a request for an examination of an appeal to the Supreme Court against a decision on a criminal case rendered at the final instance by a court other than the Supreme Court, except with regard to an acquittal.

“It seems that the Government wants to take us back to court one more time, even though the court ruled that the bay is not polluted and the case should have not have been in criminal court to start with. To my understanding, to appeal on a full acquittal is not only against the law; it sends the signal that the Government does not believe their own courts decision. To say I am disappointed with the Government’s decision is an understatement”, said Richard Ness.

The other reason that the appeal is not necessary is that the Government of Indonesia and PTNMR have established the independent scientific panel under the Goodwill Agreement that will monitor and report on Buyat Bay for almost another decade. Newmont Vice President of Asia Operations, Robert Gallagher, “We are confident that it will confirm that there is no pollution in Buyat Bay. If anyone has any residual concern in regard to the condition of Buyat Bay, let that concern be addressed by pure science”.

More information about the case can be found at www.BuyatBayFacts.com along with a chronology of events at http://www.buyatbayfacts.com/what_happened/timeline.aspx.

End of press release from Newmont.

I am writing a book on the saga.

Indonesian blogger, Ong Hock Chuan, has taken up the case for Richard Ness, an American mining executive falsely accused by environmental NGO’s of deliberately polluting Buyat Bay in northern Sulawesi.

In a recent post Ong invited Wahli, the Indonesian arm of Friend’s of the Earth and the group who’s false accusations led to the arrest of Ness, to put their case at his blog.

This was their response:

“I’ve read your blog and my oppinion is there’s nothing we (Walhi) could discuss further about such topic you’ve thrown on your blog since you started it without critical question about ‘how businesses and NGOs can work together to protect and improve the environment’ like you said in your email below. i don’t know what your intention here but we refuse to answer your call to put our organization in such ‘brutal’ discussion in your blog.”

I don’t know, I reckon Ong’s blog would be much less brutal than an Indonesian jail… where Whali want to send Richard Ness.

Read the complete blog post here: http://theunspunblog.com/2007/01/31/australias-watching-where-is-walhi-newmont-and-the-other-players/

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To read more about Richard Ness, click here and for more background on the trial read Eric’s blog, click here. If you want to know who Eric is, click here.

I met Richard Ness, the head of a gold mining company Newmont Minahasa Raya, through this blog.

I posted a piece here in November 2005 asking the question: Did Newmont Do It?

I was referring to Buyat Bay in northern Sulawesi, Indonesia, and allegations that the beautiful bay had been polluted by mine tailings.

About a year after I posted the piece Richard emailed me, including comment that: “What has come out from court ordered resampling of the bay is that the Waters of Buyat are cleaner than on average, the Atlantic, Pacific and English Channel.”

Last week Richard Ness was in court again pleading his innocence. He opened his 13 hour testimony in Manado, Indonesia, with comment that:

“I beg the court’s indulgence if at some points throughout this document that my writing depicts some anger, frustration, pity, and in some cases even contempt for some of the issues raised. I hope that the Honorable Panel of Judges can understand that these expressions of emotion are not directed at this court or the Honorable Panel of Judges, but rather at the subject matter or the individuals under discussion.

This Panel of Judges has been searching for the truth and I express my respect
to the Honorable Panel for your patience and the work they have undertaken
towards separating reality from pretense and facts from illusions. I have to
state that I have been treated very fairly before this court in an effort to find the
real truth and while the trial can be deemed fair, the investigation, examination,
indictment and the charges against me are certainly not fair or justified!

The allegation that Buyat Bay is polluted is a sham, and only supported by
falsehood and error.

There were several opportunities to correct this travesty before the indictment was issued, but each time the opportunity was lost. If the law had been followed from the beginning, there would never have been an indictment; if the Prosecution had examined the evidence, there would have never been charges or a sentencing request and I would not have needed to write this pledoi [testimonial].

Although one can reflect back on what could have been but the reality is I am seated before this court, defending myself of a crime that never occurred.”

[Read the complete transcript by clicking here]

Richard Ness claims there is no evidence to suggest Buyat Bay was ever polluted by mine tailing from Newmont Minhasa Raya and that the case against him is a fabrication orchestrated by environmental NGOs supported by naïve western journalists including New York Times journalist Jane Perlez.

The same day the New York Times published its feature by Ms Perlez, the World Health Organisation published a detailed technical report which concluded that Buyat Bay was not contaminated by mercury or cyanide and that levels of mercury among villagers were not high enough to cause poisoning and that the health effect of mercury and cyanide poisoning were not observed among Buyat Bay villagers.

This was the first of several reports, including a detailed report by Australia’s CSIRO and another by the Indonesian Ministry of Environment, which directly contradicted an initial Indonesian police report and found the bay to be unpolluted.

Richard’s testimony brings to a close what has been a long and acrimonious trial. A judgment is expected within the month.

Here are some links to recent media reports:

PT Newmont Boss Begins Defence in Indonesia
Resource Investor – Herndon,VA,USA
St. LOUIS (ResourceInvestor.com) — Newmont executive Richard Ness, on trial in Indonesia for allegedly polluting Buyat Bay, read his ‘pledoi’ to the court … http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=28339

INDONESIA: Indonesia Newmont boss says no complaints on mining
CorpWatch.org – Oakland,CA,USA
PT Newmont Minahasa Raya, which operated a gold mine in North Sulawesi province, and its president director Richard Ness face charges over allegations the …
http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14317

Newmont Indonesia boss rejects pollution charges
Reuters AlertNet – London,England,UK
PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR), which once operated in Indonesia’s North Sulawesi province, and its president director Richard Ness face charges over … http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/JAK52760.htm

Indonesian blogger, Ong Hock Chuan, invites Walhi, one of the NGOs that launched the initial attack against Richard Ness, to explain how “activist NGOs on the whole make Indonesia a better or worse place to live and do business”: http://theunspunblog.com/2007/01/25/open-invitation-to-businesses-and-indonesian-ngos-to-respond/#comment-6058

Richard’s son Eric has commented at his blog that: The actions of some of the NGOs portrayed in this documentary (Mine Your Own Business) parallels my Dad’s experience in this Buyat Bay case. People like Rignolda and Raja Siregar have utilized well-planned misinformation campaigns and lies in the name of environmentalism. Dr. Jane Pangemanan did not hesitate to misrepresent the illnesses in the Buyat Bay community as mercury poisoning. Such allegations were decisively disproved by the WHO, CSIRO and other governmental reports. These individuals have been discredited now in the court. But the salient question is: will these NGOs resort to these methods again? I plan to continue this debate further in the weeks to come. The time has come for NGOs to become more thoughtful, and more truthful in their campaigns. Read more:
http://richardness.org/blog/buyatbayandngoaccountability.php

And for more information on Richard Ness: https://jennifermarohasy.com.dev.internet-thinking.com.au/blog/archives/001697.html .