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Criminologist’s statements are all lies: Jessica
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Murder suspect Jessica Kumala Wongso, (left) accompanied by her lawyers, listens to a witness testimony during a hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court on Thursday. (Antara/Rosa Panggabean)
M
urder suspect Jessica Kumala Wongso told judges during Thursday’s hearing that all the statements made by University of Indonesia criminologist Ronny Nitibaskara were lies.
Ronny, who twice interrogated Jessica at the Jakarta Police headquarters, had earlier testified that Jessica was emotionally unstable, narcissistic and often lied. Ronny also said his interrogations of Jessica were conducted in a friendly manner, without any pressure.
“Your Honor, how could I not be under pressure during his interrogations? I did not want to be interrogated, I was depressed. He made a lot of false statements, none of them are true,” Jessica said.
During the hearing, Ronny who assessed Jessica’s behavior through Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footage also said that Wayan Mirna Salihin, who died after drinking a Vietnamese iced coffee at Olivier café on Jan. 6., was uncomfortable while meeting Jessica. He suspected that Mirna had avoided Jessica and there was tension between them at the time.
Jessica’s lawyer Otto Hasibuan said it was impossible that Mirna had harbored negative feelings toward Jessica at the time as she had decided to meet her. In late December, Mirna, together with her husband Arief Soemarko had also had dinner with Jessica, he added.
Ronny responded Otto’s statement coldly. “Of course it is possible. They [Mirna and Arief] might have just been showing fake courtesy,” Ronny said. (bbn)
