Australian resident Jessica Kumala Wongso on trial for ‘iced coffee’ murder of best friend in Jakarta

AN Australian resident will go on trial for the premeditated murder of her friend, accused of spiking her drink with cyanide in a crime motivated by jealousy.

Jessica Kumala Wongso, flanked by police at Pondok Bambu Penitentiary in Jakarta. Picture: AAP

WAYAN Mirna Salihin took a sip from her Vietnamese iced coffee in an up-market Jakarta mall and was almost immediately mortally ill.

The coffee was laced with cyanide.

Police and prosecutors allege it was her friend, Australian resident Jessica Kumala Wongso, who put the deadly cyanide in her coffee in Café Olivier which ultimately killed the newly married 27-year-old. The couple had met for a coffee and catch up in the cafe.

Today in Jakarta, Wongso, who formerly lived with her family in Sydney, will go on trial for the premeditated murder of her friend in a case which has seen allegations of lesbian affairs, jealousy and revenge floated as possible motives for the baffling murder.

A Facebook page, Justice for Mirna, has been set up by her friends and family and urges everyone to attend the trial at the Central Jakarta District Court today in a bid to ensure justice for Mirna.

Jessica Kumala Wongso will go on trial for the premeditated murder of her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin. Picture: AAP

The family tells of a vibrant and beautiful young woman, who cared deeply about her family and husband, whom she married last November after 10 years of dating.

“The death of Mirna has hit not only her husband, parents and family but also all her friends in Indonesia and Australia. All people are wondering why this abomination could happen to Mirna, who was friendly to everyone.”

Wongso faces one charge of premeditated murder which carries the maximum death penalty.

The Australian Federal Police has helped their Indonesian counterparts with the high-profile case — providing assistance about the years the two young women lived and studied in Sydney together at Billy Blue College of Design and also providing the details of Wongso’s criminal record in Australia, which has not been released publicly.

This assistance only came about after the Indonesian Government provided a written assurance to Australian Government that “the death penalty would not be sought nor carried out” in relation to Wongso’s case.

Wayan Mirna Salihin, pictured with her husband, died from suspected cyanide poisoning. Picture: Supplied

However, since the assurance was revealed it has been mired in controversy. Judges in the case, along with the prosecutors, deny that the Australian Government’s assurance carries any weight with them and have warned against intervention in their legal system. According to them, if the death penalty is warranted at the end of the case it will be handed down.

Central Jakarta District Court Judge and the court’s spokesman, Jamaluddin Samosir, told News Corporation that no-one can interfere with a Judge’s ruling.

“The Court ruling is in the hands of the panel of Judges based on the trial process and it cannot be interfered with by anyone. The Judiciary must be free,” Judge Samosir said.

Asked if the agreement between Australia and Indonesia would be given effect in this trial, Judge Samosir said it would not.

In deciding on the sentence and whether the death penalty is on the table, Judge Samosir said the only factors to be considered are “the facts revealed in the trial”.

“It is the independent authority of the Judge,” he said.

Cups of Vietnamese iced coffee used during a police reconstruction of the murder of Mirna Salihin at the Cafe Olivier in Jakarta. Salihin died after drinking an iced coffee laced with cyanide. Picture: Supplied

Jakarta Prosecutor’s office spokesman, Waluyo, said there would be no intervention from outside and the decision rested solely with the Judges.

“Law in Indonesia and Australia is different. We have legal sovereignty in Indonesia. There is no intervention from any other country … so there is no bargaining for someone that has been named as a suspect,” Mr Waluyo said.

Gede Made Swardhana, a legal expert from Udayana University, concurred. “The sentence depends on the Judge. The Judge cannot be directed.”

The dossier of evidence against Wongso contains statements from 30 witnesses. At the trial today the prosecutors will outline the indictment and evidence against the accused.

The case has attracted wide coverage since the death of Mirna on January 6 amid allegations of jealousy and revenge as being the possible motives for why Wongso allegedly put cyanide poison in her friend’s iced coffee.

The two young women first met in Sydney, but had not been close in recent years. Wongso did not attend Mirna’s wedding in November last year.

CCTV vision from the cafe that day shows Wongso ordering drinks but what happened next and how cyanide got in the coffee is not clear from the footage.