Best prosecutors prepared, Jessica's lawyers say she's innocent

The Jakarta Prosecutors' Office has said it will prepare the best prosecutors for the trial of murder suspect Jessica Kumala Wongso, after the office accepted the suspect's case dossier prepared by the police on Thursday -- two days before the initial 120-day investigation period was set to expire.

Meanwhile, defense lawyers have insisted their client is innocent. Hidayat Bostam, one of the Jessica's lawyers, said police investigators had weak evidence because CCTV records failed to confirm that Jessica was the one who poured poison into the coffee cup of the victim.

"There is no movement of Jessica's hand that [would indicate] she poured poison into Mirna's coffee cup. There is also no eyewitness testimony," said Hidayat as reported by tempo.co.

He referred to an event at a Central Jakarta café in which Jessica, Wayan Mirna Salihin and another female friend shared a table on Jan. 6, for coffee. Mirna died soon after the meeting on her way to a hospital from drinking cyanide-laced coffee.

Jessica was taken by police to the Jakarta Prosecutors' Office on Thursday and then would be detained at Pondok Bambu female detention center, East Jakarta, while waiting for her trial.

Hidayat expressed his optimism his legal team could prove his client was innocent. "Mirna told me it was not her who murdered Mirna," Hidayat said. "We cannot talk much about the case outside court. But we're preparing our ammunition to win the trial," he added.

"We will be ready to face trial. We will prepare our best defense," Hidayat said.

Meanwhile, head of Jakarta Prosecutors' Office Hermanto stressed that prosecutors had prepared Jessica's legal documents before they declared the case dossier complete. He expressed hope that the trial at the Jakarta District Court would be held as soon as possible.

"After we finalize the legal documents, we will bring the case to court. We don't want to waste time," said Hermanto on Friday.

Hermanto realized Jessica's case had been highly publicized, therefore the prosecutors' office would assign its best prosecutors for the court hearing.

Jakarta Police said they had prepared 37 pieces of evidence, including CCTV records at Olivier café in Central Jakarta, clothes worn by Jessica during the incident, information from the Australian Federal Police about Jessica and Mirna's lives while living in Australia and testimonies by various experts. Jessica is accused of premeditated murder, with the maximum sentence of the death penalty.

Jakarta Police's general crimes director Sr. Comr. Krishna Murti said its investigators had worked very hard to complete the case dossier of Jessica based on advice from the prosecutors. "This is what we got [Jessica's completed case dossier], including the investigation results from the Australian Federal Police, with mutual legal assistance," Krishna said. ( bbn )

Source: Best prosecutors prepared, Jessica's lawyers say she's innocent