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I am suffering under public pressure, cries Jessica
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Murder defendant Jessica Kumala Wongso attends a hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court on Oct. 4. Prosecutors have demanded a 20-year sentence for her over the murder of Wayan Mirna Salihin. (Antara/Wahyu Putro A. )
M
urder suspect Jessica Kumala Wongso says she is suffering greatly under the public scrutiny over accusations that she murdered her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin with cyanide-laced coffee earlier this year.
Expressing her frustration, Jessica said in her defense plea on Wednesday that she had felt even before the trial that the public believed she had committed the crime.
"All the things I did were widely exposed to all citizens. It made people believe that I had committed the crime. My family really suffered from this accusation," she cried before the judges, while reading her defense statement at the Central Jakarta District Court.
The Australian permanent resident also regretted that this case had exposed her background, which she said was in no way related to the case and which had opened her life for public consumption.
She recalled that during the case reconstruction at the crime scene of Olivier restaurant in the Grand Indonesia mall employees and costumers had looked at her suspiciously.
"They saw me as a cold-blooded killer and they took photos of me," Jessica said.
She added that she had felt pressured and intimidated by then-Jakarta Police investigation chief Sr. Comr. Krishna Murti when asked to confess a crime she had never committed. Krishna had promised her a low sentence if she admitted to having killed Mirna, she added.
Jessica is the sole defendant in the murder case that has caught national and international attention. Prosecutors have demanded a 20-year prison sentence for her. (rin)
