Jakarta puts US gold giant on trial over pollution

In a rare case against an American business giant operating in the developing world, the Newmont Mining Corporation and its chief executive in Indonesia went on trial on Friday on criminal charges of pollution at its gold mine near this remote city.

The Indonesian government contends that Newmont, which is based in Denver and is the world’s biggest gold producer, contaminated the equatorial waters of Buyat Bay with mine waste containing arsenic and mercury. It wants to hold the president of Newmont in Indonesia, Richard B Ness, 55 responsible.

In a vigorous pre-trial response, Newmont said it would prove that its operations had not harmed the water, the fish or the local people, many of whom moved from Buyat Bay in June after complaining of illnesses. No definitive cause for their ailments has been found.

Everyone involved in this firmly believes we have not done anything wrong,” Ness said on Tuesday at a briefing in Jakarta. “There is not pollution. I am confident about what the evidence shows. We will be acquitted.”

That the head of operations for a major American company is being criminally prosecuted abroad is exceptional enough. But the case has also become a test both of the Indonesia’s legal system of the conduct of international corporations that operate in far-off lands, where local people often feel that foreign businesses keep laxer standards than at home.

The verdict may prove a bellwether for Indonesia’s other foreign investors with far greater stakes and potential liabilities, especially in industries like mining and petroleum.