Jessica`s attorney reads out demurrer during initial court session

The legal team representing Jessica Kumala Wongso filed a demurrer in the murder case of Wayan Mirna Salihin in the Central Jakarta District Court on Wednesday.

It was read out by Jessicas legal team following the prosecutors reading of the indictment materials during the initial court session.

The demurrer read by Jessicas attorney, Sordame Purba, revealed several irregularities, which both him and the defendant felt were odd with regard to the case.

"Several people are involved in this case, including Mirnas husband, Arif, who dropped her off at the Grand Indonesia shopping mall, and Hani, who sat at the same table with the victim and the defendant. She also admitted consuming coffee from the same cup, but no discordance was found," Sordame pointed out.

The attorney believes that there are a few potential suspects in the case other than Jessica, for instance, Hani, who is a friend of both Jessica and Mirna, who admitted to have consumed the coffee, but no abnormality was found.

"Moreover, Olivier Cafes waiter Agus and barista Rangga Dwi Saputro are other likely suspects. Why is Jessica the only one suspected of murder when she did not do anything unusual, and nobody witnessed her putting cyanide into the coffee?" he affirmed.

Due to the evidence that is deemed insufficient, Jessicas legal team suspects that the allegations against their client are baseless.

"It does not make sense that Jessica flew all the way from Australia to Indonesia to murder Mirna. It also does not make sense that Jessica would murder Mirna because she had once asked Jessica to end her relationship with her boyfriend at the time. There are several abnormalities we are doubtful about in the prosecutors allegations," Sordame reiterated. 

Sordame also believes that it is illogical for Jessica to be charged with premeditated murder as he doubted Jessicas intentions of bringing paper bags was to conceal herself from the CCTV equipment installed at Olivier cafe.

"It was not even Jessica who invited Mirna to Olivier cafe, it was Hani, but the prosecutor instantly charged Jessica. He also stated that Jessica had spiked Mirnas coffee with cyanide without any explanations of how she did it or the form of cyanide she allegedly used, whether it was in powder or liquid form. There is a missing link in the charges," he stressed.

A member of Jessicas legal team, Otto Hasibuan, also read out the demurrer, saying that Jessica had passed the lie detector tests.

"Why is she being charged when she passed the test? Does it mean that they do not trust the results of the lie detector tests?" he questioned.

In the conclusion of the demurrer, Jessicas attorney pleaded to the judges to accept the demurrer and issue an interim order in favor of the defendant. They also appealed for Jessicas release from detention and for dropping all charges leveled against her. 

"We are hoping that the court will take into account these facts and take further action with discretion," Otto concluded.
 

Source: ANTARA