Link: CNN.com.:

MANADO, Indonesia (Reuters) — An Indonesian court has
cleared the local unit of Newmont Mining and the unit’s American
president of all charges in a high-profile pollution trial, the chief
judge said on Tuesday.

The case has been seen as a key test of attitudes towards foreign firms and environmental protection in the country.

"Pollution
charges against Newmont Minahasa Raya and Richard Ness cannot be
proven," chief judge Ridwan Damanik told the court, referring to the
local unit of the U.S. firm and its president.

"They are being
relieved from their primary charges, and since the primary charges
cannot be proven, other charges cannot be considered," he added.

Analysts
had said a defeat for Newmont would have deterred investors from
putting their money in the mining sector, which has not seen fresh
investment for years.

But the verdict will be viewed as a defeat
for some activists who wanted to send a message that Indonesia is
serious about enforcing laws to protect the country’s rapidly degrading
environment.

The company had been accused of releasing toxic
substances into a bay near its now-defunct gold mine in North Sulawesi,
making villagers sick.

In November, the prosecutor asked for Ness
to receive a three-year jail term and a 500 million rupiah ($55,000)
fine, and the company to be fined 1 billion rupiah. The maximum
sentence Ness could have faced under Indonesian law was 10 years.

Newmont and Ness had denied the charges, pointing to studies that found no evidence of pollution.

The U.S. company said last month it might reconsider its investments in Indonesia if its executive was found guilty.

Indonesia
has some of the world’s largest deposits of gold, tin, nickel and
copper, and some of the world’s top mining firms such as
Freeport-McMoran Copper&Gold and PT International Nickel Indonesia
have operations in the country.