Jessica has been detained since Jan. 31 as the sole suspect in the murder of Wayan Mirna Salihin, who died after drinking cyanide-tainted coffee at Olivier Cafe at Grand Indonesia mall in Central Jakarta. 

However, the Jakarta Prosecutors' Office has rejected Jessica's dossier because of a lack of evidence. The police now have less than 60 days to submit the complete dossier, as legally, a suspect may be detained for a maximum of 120 days for investigation purposes.

“We ask the police to complete the dossier within 120 days, as set by the law. However, if the police can’t prove that Jessica is guilty, we will sue the police for violating Jessica’s rights,” one of Jessica’s lawyers, Yudi Wibowo Sukinto, told thejakartapost.com on Thursday.

The police, he continued, have acted carelessly by detaining Jessica. The prosecutors' decision to return the dossier twice shows, he said, that investigators are unable to prove her guilt.

The lengthy detention has triggered depression in Jessica, Yudi said.

Previously, former Jakarta Police chief Tito Karnavian said Jessica had a long police record in Australia and had undergone psychological treatment when studying in Australia. Her lawyers, however, have challenged the statement, as there is no Australian verdict against Jessica.

 “Had Jessica committed a crime, her Permanent Residence [PR[ would have been revoked by the Australian government. This has not happened,” Yudi said.

Common

Separately,  Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR) executive director Supriyadi Widodo Eddyono said it was common to repeatedly return a case dossier to the police, but if the detention period were reached before the dossier was complete, police would have to release the suspect.

“It is common to return a case dossier to the police, and is allowed by the Criminal Law Procedures Code [KUHAP]. There are even cases in which prosecutors have returned a dossier to the police some twenty times,” Supriyadi said.

Usually, dossiers are returned  in cases in which the suspect faces heavy punishment; the prosecutors' office will return the dossier to the police if it believes the evidence is not sufficient as a base to file charges against the suspect.

However, Supriyadi underlined that the lawyers could not sue the police over an alleged human rights violation. According to the law, a suspect can only file a lawsuit regarding human rights violations under detention through a pretrial motion.

Jessica’s pretrial motion was last month rejected by the court, which said the legal process against her was legitimate.

The only possible option, Supriyadi further said, would be to file a case through the civil court against the police if the latter were unable to complete the dossier before the end of the maximum detention period.

“The camp may request some amount of compensation for material and immaterial losses through the court,” he said. (ags)

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