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Police have 30 days to make case against Jessica
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Murder suspect Jessica Kumala Wongso (left) poses with her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin in this undated photobooth shot. The Jakarta Police have extended Jessica's detention for another 30 days, during which they must successfully submit a dossier to the prosecutor's office or release her. (Kompas.com/-)
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span style="line-height:1.6em">The Jakarta Police have extended the detention of Jessica Kumala Wongso for another 30 days. As the final extension of her detention period, the police must present sufficient evidence against her in that time, or set her free.
Jessica, 27, who is suspected of murdering her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin, has been in detention since Jan. 31. The Jakarta Police have extended her detention until May 28, Jakarta Police general crimes division head Sr. Cmr. Krishna Murti said on Thursday as reported by kompas.com.
Investigators have asked for the district court's permission for the detention extension, he said.
Jessica was detained after the Jakarta Police named her as the sole suspect for the murder of Mirna, who died after drinking a cyanide-tainted coffee at a café in the Grand Indonesia mall in early January.
Police investigators are allowed to detain a suspect for a maximum 120 days under the Criminal Law Procedures Code (KUHAP). However, if the police cannot complete the dossiers before her detention period ends, then Jessica must be released from detention, according to the KUHAP.
For the 90 days that Jessica has been in detention, the police’s case dossier has two times been rejected by the prosecutor’s office as incomplete. The police submitted the dossier to the prosecutor’s office for the third time on Friday.
The police seek to charge Jessica with pre-meditated murder. If she is found guilty, she could face the death penalty.
Hidayat Bostam, one of Jessica's lawyers, said he came to the Jakarta Police headquarters on Thursday to sign the detention extension and check on his client's condition.
Jessica was unwell, and had complained of difficulty breathing, Bostam said, adding that he would ask permission from the police to have a doctor check her lungs.
