The Jakarta Post, January 26 2016
The Jakarta Police said on Monday that they would discuss the case at the prosecutor’s office on Tuesday before naming a suspect in the alleged murder of Wayan Mirna Salihin, 27, adding that they had to be careful in the investigation process to avoid an “unfair arrest”.
Jakarta Police general crimes chief Sr. Comr. Krishna Murti said police investigators would present important evidence to the prosecutors and ask for their insights.
“I am sure the evidence is significant enough [to warrant naming a suspect],” he told reporters at the Jakarta Police headquarters on Monday.
He did not specify whether the evidence was a witness statement or related to forensic test results.
Krishna said the police had looked at post-mortem test results as well as eye-witness and expert witness statements, adding that having all the evidence would enable them to name a suspect.
“We have to avoid making any mistakes. For example, naming the wrong person a suspect. We should also be prepared in case a pre-trial motion is filed against us,” he explained.
“We are not being slow. This is the processes [we need to go through],” he added.
Mirna died on Jan. 6 after taking several sips of iced coffee at Olivier restaurant in Grand Indonesia shopping mall in Central Jakarta. She reportedly started convulsing and foaming from the mouth after drinking the coffee before being rushed to a clinic inside the mall then to Abdi Waluyo Hospital where she passed away shortly after arriving.
Mirna came to the restaurant with two of her friends, Jessica Kumala Wongso, 27, and Hany, 27. Jessica reportedly came around 40 minutes before Mirna and Hany, who arrived together.
The coffee that Mirna drank was reportedly ordered and paid for by Jessica.
Following the incident, the police tried to look at surveillance camera footage from inside the restaurant but they could not see what happened to the coffee because Jessica’s bag, which was on the table, blocked the view of the camera.
A police autopsy report confirmed that traces of highly toxic cyanide were found in Mirna’s stomach.
The police have not named any suspects but Jessica has become the center of public attention ever since the cyanide was found.
During a recent police reconstruction of the scene at Olivier, it was shown that Hany drank from her coffee while Jessica did not.
Jessica’s lawyer Yudi Wibowo Sukinto said recently that his client did not taste her coffee because she was avoiding coffee for health reasons.
The police have also revealed that in their recent search for evidence at Jessica’s house, investigators did not find the pants she had worn at the restaurant when the poisoning incident occurred.
Jessica has argued that she ordered her maid to dump the pants into a trash bin because they had been torn when she helped carry Mirna to the hospital.
Yudi previously doubted the police’s autopsy result, saying that the cyanide trace found in Mirna’s stomach might not have been from the coffee but may have occurred naturally in the woman’s body three days after death.
“The human body produces corrosive substances three days after death. I am not a doctor but I have learned about it,” he said. - See more at:
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di 26 jan 2016 - 22:07