Natalie Lowery has been released!

Natalie Lowrey was released unconditionally on police bail on June 27. Natalie is free to return home as long as the police do not press charges before she leaves. No charges are expected at this time. The petition for her release will continue until it is confirmed that all charges have been dropped.

Friends of the Earth Malaysia/ SAM and Friends of the Earth International are eager to express a huge thank you to everyone around the world who supported the petition so far.

Natalie Lowrey, an environmental campaigner from Australia, was arrested by the Malaysian police for taking part in a demonstration against the Lynas  Corporation on Sunday, 22 June in Gebeng, Pahang.

She was held at the Kuantan District Police Headquarters, Pahang for a number of days.

Natalie has been an environmental campaigner for the past sixteen years. She has been actively involved in the Stop Lynas Incorporation (SLI) in Australia for the past three years. She was in Gebeng, Kuantan on behalf of the SLI to lend solidarity and support to the local community in Kuantan.

The SLI is a group in Australia working with the thousands of Malaysians who have been campaigning against the rare earth miner, Lynas Corporation of Australia. The Kuantan’s Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) is a rare earth processing plant which is owned by the Australian Lynas Corporation. The SLI has been closely monitoring the activities of the Lynas Corporation in Australia, the LAMP as well as in collaborating with the local NGOs and communities in Malaysia.

The refinery will be the world’s largest rare earth processing plant.  The first shipment of raw materials has arrived from Australia at the plant, potentially bringing tonnes of radioactive and toxic waste with long-term effects on the lives and livelihoods of people living in the surrounding areas of Gebeng, Pahang and the environment.

We share the grave concerns of SLI and the Malaysian NGOs and local communities that though such rare earth processing would not have been allowed in Australia, it has been approved to be carried out in Malaysia, with potentially devastating impacts for people and the environment.

Currently, the LAMP has no long-term permanent disposal facility for its radioactive waste and it is far from certain that a disposal site will be available in the foreseeable future.

Natalie has actively supported local communities in fighting for environmental justice and has been vocal against all or any form of violence, threat and harm to people and the environment. We also understand that Natalie has cooperated in every way with the authorities.

Natalie represents all our voices in supporting the local communities and NGOs in Malaysia who have been campaigning against the LAMP and the Australian Lynas Corporation.

We therefore urge the Malaysian Government and the police to drop all charges against her now that she has been released