Papua’s Amungme tribe on Monday lodged a new class-action lawsuit against US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan seeking $32.5 billion in material and non-material damages for the alleged illegal acquisition of its ancestral land. The action, filed at the South Jakarta District Court, came after an initial lawsuit filed last August collapsed and a second attempt to sue the company received no response in October. “Previously, our lawsuit covered illegal land acquisition, environmental damage and human rights violations. This time, we have broken down our lawsuit and will first focus on land acquisition,” Titus Natkime, a lawyer for the tribe, told the Jakarta Globe. “Next month, we may file new cases of environmental damage and rights violations.”
Rio Tinto helped finance the expansion of the massive Grasberg mine and continues to profit from it.
See http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/papua-tribe-files-32b-lawsuit-against-freeport/362747.