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Mirna suspect to be named soon: Police
Security officers patrol near the Olivier cafe, in Grand Indonesia Mall, Central Jakarta, on Jan
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Security officers patrol near the Olivier cafe, in Grand Indonesia Mall, Central Jakarta, on Jan. 11 as Jakarta Police investigators investigate the death of Mirna Wayan Salihin after she drank cyanide-laced coffee on Jan. 6. (Tempo/Aditia Noviansyah) (Tempo/Aditia Noviansyah)
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span class="inline inline-center">Security officers patrol near the Olivier cafe, in Grand Indonesia Mall, Central Jakarta, on Jan. 11 as Jakarta Police investigators investigate the death of Mirna Wayan Salihin after she drank cyanide-laced coffee on Jan. 6. (Tempo/Aditia Noviansyah)
The police have collected sufficient evidence to name a suspect in the death of Wayan Mirna Salihin, 27, who died after drinking cyanide-laced coffee on Jan. 6.
The police will hold a case expose before prosecutors on Tuesday where investigators will present evidence and information from three experts involved in the investigation, Jakarta Police's general crimes chief Krishna Murti said on Monday.
The experts are a forensic expert, a forensic psychiatrist and a criminal expert.
Investigators had collected four items of evidence out of five required to name a suspect in a case according to the Criminal Code, he said.
"We have the indication, evidence and required documents. We can ignore the suspect's testimony in this case according to the Criminal Code," he told journalists at the Jakarta Police headquarters, while declining to provide details on the suspected poisoner.
Krishna admitted that police had required extra time and care in determining a suspect to avoid any error in the criminal process.
"So if any party files for a pretrial motion, we will be ready to handle it," he said.
Legal and juridical obstacles also hampered investigators in revealing a suspect. For example, police had only received verbal information about the forensic results of the cyanide-laced coffee, but not the formal documents from the National Police's forensic laboratory.
Results from psychiatric evaluations of Jessica Kumala Wongso, Mirna's friend and a witness, had also needed time to be put into the case dossier, Krishna said.
Police summoned Hani, Mirna's other friend who was with Mirna at the time of her death, as a witness on Monday.
Hani had joined newlywed Mirna and Jessica in a cafe in Grand Indonesia Mall in Central Jakarta and witnessed Mirna's having seizures and vomiting hours before Mirna died in hospital.
Investigators questioned Hani twice on Monday to get clearer information as Krishna said Hani had panicked when Mirna died leading her to forget some details of the incident.
Hani made no comment to journalists after her second questioning of the day.
Jakarta Police have sought the help of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in a bid to unveil the truth behind Mirna's suspicious death. The AFP was expected to provide information regarding the relationship between Mirna and her friends, especially Jessica and Hani, as they all studied together in Australia.
Police took Jessica's servant, identified only as SR, into police protection as a key witness on Friday.
SR is believed to have disposed of Jessica's ripped pants after Mirna's death at Jessica's request. Police had searched for the pants but to no avail.
Jessica's lawyer, and uncle, Yudi Wibowo has denied that his niece had any involvement in Mirna's death claiming that they were best friends while studying in Australia. (rin)
