The United States has criticised the detention by Indonesian police of five employees of a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corp over pollution accusations.
The employees have been detained at police headquarters in Jakarta since earlier this week over accusations the company's Minahasa gold mine polluted the waters of Buyat Bay in North Sulawesi province and made people ill.
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.
A US embassy statement issued late on Friday came after Indonesian police questioned unit PT Newmont Minahasa Raya's American president, Richard Ness, for several hours on Thursday.
"We respect the independence of Indonesia's judicial system, but feel very strongly that the detention of PT Newmont Minahasa Raya employees is inappropriate," it said.
None have been charged. Under Indonesian law the police can hold suspects for up to 20 days without charges.
Denver-based Newmont, the world's largest gold miner, has strenuously denied the accusations by villagers in North Sulawesi province.
Media reports earlier this month said an Indonesian government panel reported on August 31 that Newmont had illegally disposed mine waste laced with arsenic and mercury into the ocean near the mine site.
In a statement earlier this month, Newmont said it had regularly reported to the Indonesian 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.
MORE QUESTIONING: The US embassy said PT Newmont had fully co-operated and made their staff available to Indonesian authorities. "There is no need to physically detain officials of the company," it added.
Spokesman for PT Newmont Minahasa Raya in Jakarta, Kasan Mulyono, told Reuters that Ness was scheduled for further questioning on Monday.
The embassy said it also feared the detentions could further harm the investment climate in Indonesia, which is already suffering because of vague regulations, illegal mining and tough environmental rules.
The detentions also come after a series of court rulings against foreign investors that have led to some companies to rethink investment plans.
As a percentage of GDP, investment in Indonesia has hit its lowest level since the early 1970s, the World Bank says. It is now at some 17 percent, compared with 30 percent before the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
The Minahasa mine, 2,150 km (1,340 miles) north-east of Jakarta, was closed in August due to depleted reserves and the company had been carrying out reclamation work. The accusations relate to when the mine was operational. The medium-sized mine started production in 1996 and ended ore mining in October 2001. The unit produced approximately 1.9 million ounces (53,864 kilograms) of gold during the mine life.
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