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Jakarta Post

Jessica ready for court: Lawyer

Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Wed, June 15, 2016

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Jessica ready for court: Lawyer Jessica Kusuma Wongso speaks to journalists at the Jakarta Police headquarters on Jan.19. Jessica is alleged to have ordered the Vietnamese coffee beverage linked to Mirna's death. (Tempo/M.Iqbal Ichsan)

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essica Kumala Wongso, the sole suspect in the Wayan Mirna Salihin murder case, is due appear for trial at the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday. Jessica’s lawyer, Andi Jusuf, said his client was ready to face the court and emphasized that Jessica’s team of lawyers had thoroughly studied the prosecutor’s indictment.

“We will face the case like a general criminal case. For the first day of trial, we will listen to the prosecutor’s indictment and decide whether we will file an exception,” Andi told thejakartapost.com on Tuesday.

Prosecutors have accused Jessica of premeditated murder in the Mirna case. Mirna died after consuming a cyanide-tainted Vietnamese coffee beverage, which is alleged to have been ordered by Jessica at Olivier Café, in Grand Indonesia, a mall in Central Jakarta.

Despite Article 340 of the Criminal Code listing death as the maximum penalty for premeditated murder, on Monday, Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly ensured that Jessica would not be sentenced to death based on an agreement made between the Indonesian and Australian governments in relation to the case.

Andi said the lawyer team had not found anything new in the prosecutors’ indictment, saying that the police had also accused Jessica of committing premeditated murder. The indictment was a copy-paste of the police’s investigation report, the lawyer emphasized.

“We will stick to our stance. Our client is innocent. She didn’t murder Mirna,” Andi said, adding that the lawyers plan to call relevant experts to testify before the judges.

Jessica is currently detained at the Pondok Bambu Women's Detention Center in East Jakarta. According to Andi, Jessica’s condition is fine and she does not have any health problems. (ebf)

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