“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.
Jennifer Marohasy BSc PhD is a critical thinker with expertise in the scientific method.
Bet 4 Corners doesn’t do an expose similar to the
Ok Tedi story……
The New York Times has an abysmally bad track record of journalists pandering to greens instead of doing fact-checking.
The Times will likely say in its defense that contacting greens constitutes fact-checking, but even the basest fool in journalism knows that greens are partisans and lie like rugs.
The Times will likely trot out the notion of journalistic “balance,” but “balance” only comes into play if a news report covers some sort of partisan debate. In which case, “balance” requires factually, actually, presenting what both sides in the debate presented.
Which means that good journalism still boils down to being factual and accurate, even in the midst of a debate.
Is the bay polluted? Was it polluted by a mining company? Did this cause disease and hardship?
These questions require facts to find an answer. In a debate, people are entitled to their opinions, but not their own facts.
The New York Times has been perennially criticized for pretending that greenie opinions offer “facts” and “balance,” and I personally hope this lawsuit brings this irresponsible purveyor of paper and ink to its editorial knees.
Hope the lawsuit makes print media and leccky.
That was not environmentalism it was incompetent bastardry for headline with no research.
$50 says the book has blue on the cover
Had a long conversation with the Ness family. This guy was screwed so bad by Jane Perlez and
the NY Times. I would have sued for 650 million dollars. If you haven’t Eric’s blog, it is must read.
richard ness is the most compassionate kind caring human being i have ever know he and his family do not deserve this hell they have been put thro. he has helped more people than anyone i know. he only wants jusice served. he will always fight for the under dog. it would take me all day to list just some of the good he has done to the human race in this country and indonesia. he is a truly remarkable human being who deserves all the respect in the world. give the poor guy a break. if only 1/8 of the people in the world were as concerned about others as he is the world would be a much much better place to live. jan.