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arch 2, 2016

Murder suspect Jessica Kumala Wongso has a long police record in Australia and underwent psychological treatment when she was studying Down Under, former Jakarta Police chief Tito Karnavian said on Monday.

Tito said the Australian Federal Police (AFP) had provided Jakarta Police with relevant background information on Jessica, who has been named a suspect in the murder of Wayan Mirna Salihin, who died after drinking cyanide-tainted coffee.

'€œWe cannot yet make the information public, but it includes a criminal record and a suicide attempt,'€ he told journalists, refusing to give more details as the Jakarta Police were bound by a Mutual Legal Agreement with the AFP in case coordination.

Your comments:

I have a big question: If Jessica has now been charged, how are the Indonesian police permitted to withhold copies of any material evidence from her defense team '€” for example copies of whatever has been provided by the AFP?

Criminal cases are not meant to be about tricking or ambushing someone so the police and the state prosecutor can get a conviction! They are about the evidence been laid out in the open and tested, and the defense must know what that evidence is if they are to provide a defense. Mind you, there do seem to be a few people around here who think '€œbeing tricky'€ is the whole point of a law and justice system.

As her lawyer has pointed out, if Jessica had ever been charged with anything there would be court records and where are these?

Francesa39

Could there be more unfounded claims then what we read by some posters on this thread? It is clear the police have acted professionally throughout the investigation and yet look at the comments by some of the posters. One still thinks the girl has not been charged and yet blames the Indonesian police for everything under the sun. If that is the level of logic on display is it any wonder we get such lame brain comments.

Kim Knight

If Jessica has '€œa long criminal record in Australia'€ her residency would have been revoked, as is the practice under Australian law.

Franc

The truth will prevail! The police have so far done an outstanding job. Thankyou AFP for additional relevant information. We must make sure those that kill are exposed and dealt with for the protection of the innocent.

GoodMuslim

Jessica will soon meet justice and pay big.

Azizur Rachman

What this article fails to mention that others have is '€œMirna returned to Indonesia after a brief stint as a freelance graphics designer in Australia and got married a month before she was killed. Jessica meanwhile works and lives in Sydney with her family and was reportedly on holiday the day she met Mirna.'€

So, now we are to believe that Jessica went on holiday to do the dastardly deed. In any nation with a normal law enforcement and judicial system, one could probably say things against Jessica are getting rather weak. What about the information that the Indonesian police are getting the medical records? Is there no privacy in Australia laws?

Xsimaging

That'€™s why certain information is revealed and not its entirety so that we are left to form our own conclusions and '€œconnect the dots'€ with assumptions or imagination.

Why not tell this to the public later when the full information can be disclosed? What difference would it make?

Sherlock

It is nasty behavior by the Indonesian police. '€œWe cannot yet make the information public, but we will tell you later what damages the suspect most.'€ Have the police established Jessica'€™s motives yet? Where did she get the cyanide from? Is it that easy here to get it?

Jaytee

Motive is not a requirement to find guilt. However, the motive is becoming more obvious, at least to some.

KJK