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Prosecutors are convinced by police investigation: Attorney General
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Murder suspect Jessica Kumala Wongso arrives at Pondok Bambu in East Jakarta on Friday. Jessica, who was accused of murdering her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin, will be held in a detention center while awaiting trial. ( tribunnews.com/Amriyono Prakoso)
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ttorney General M. Prasetyo said on Friday prosecutors had become convinced by the results of a police investigation into the murder of Wayan Mirna Salihin, which included pieces of evidence that had already been collected and handed over to the Jakarta Prosecutors’ Office.
He said the evidence and testimonies by a number of witnesses had influenced the prosecutors to go ahead with legal action. “But it is the right of the suspect not to make a confession. But here a confession will be crosschecked with the existing evidence,” Prasetyo added.
The complexity of the Wayan murder case, in which a Jessica Kumala Wongso has been considered the sole suspect, has caused prosecutors to work carefully before accepting the case dossier only few days before the legal detainment period would expire, Prasetyo said.
The police had said that they had prepared 37 pieces of evidence, including CCTV recordings from the Olivier café in Central Jakarta, clothes worn by Jessica during the incident, information from Australian Federal Police about Jessica and Mirna’s lives while they were living in Australia and testimonies by various experts. Jessica has been accused of committing premeditated murder and if put on trial and found guilty would face a maximum sentence of death.
The attorney general said the prosecutors had worked diligently. “Don’t worry about the last minute acceptance [of the case dossier]. Everything took place fairly,” said Prasetyo in Jakarta on Friday.
As a prosecutor who had dealt with various cases, Prasetyo said, he had experience of accepting a case several days before the 120-day police detention period expired or even after the detention expired.
“As a prosecutor with decades of experience, I often witnessed such situations. So don’t be confused by it,” he added.
The Jakarta Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday accepted the dossier of the case against Jessica – two days before the detention period by the police would expire on Saturday. Currently, Jessica is in detention by the prosecutors’ office while waiting for her trial.
Jessica was accused of murdering Mirna on Jan. 6. The case started when Jessica, Mirna and another friend shared a table at Olivier café in Central Jakarta. Mirna died soon after on her way to a hospital after drinking an iced coffee.
Hidayat Bostam, one of the Jessica’s lawyers, said that police investigators had no strong evidence because the records from the CCTV recordings failed to confirm that Jessica was the one who poured poison into Mirna's coffee cup.
“There is no movement of Jessica’s hand that put poison into Mirna’s coffee cup. There is also no witness testimony,” said Hidayat as reported by tempo.co. (bbn)
