A lawyer of murder suspect Jessica Kumala Wongso said on Tuesday that his client had no criminal record in Australia.

“According to Jessica’s lawyer in Australia, Jessica has no criminal record at all. The statement of the Australian lawyer is also supported by information from the Australian police,” Otto Hasibuan said after a hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday.

Jessica stands accused of premeditated murder of Wayan Mirna Salihin, who died after Jessica, Mirna and another friend shared a table and had coffee at the Olivier café in Central Jakarta on Jan. 6.

In March, then-Jakarta police chief Tito Karnavian claimed that based on reports from the Australian Federal Police (AFP), Jessica had a criminal record listing 14 offenses.

“We are going to legalize the information from the Australian lawyer at the Indonesian Consulate General in Sydney,” Otto added.

Previously, Jessica’s lawyers said Jessica only had a traffic violation record. They said this could not give Jessica the status of criminal, as she had not been convicted in court.

Otto stressed that the evidence from the AFP did not relate to the death of Mirna in Jakarta. “All we need in this case is direct evidence relating to Mirna’s death. The information from Australia is merely indirect evidence,” Otto said. (bbn)

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