Expert: CCTV Footage Of Jessica Wongso In Distorted Cafes 89.6 Percent

The review trial (PK) of the convict Jessica Kumala Wongso at the Central Jakarta District Court, Monday (4/11/2024). ANTARA/Agatha Olivia Victoria

JAKARTA - Digital forensic expert Rismon Hasiholan Sianipar assessed that the surveillance camera (CCTV) footage presented at the trial of convict Jessica Kumala Wongso in the premeditated murder case Wayan Mirna Salihin was distorted 89.6 percent.

Rismon revealed that distortions occur due to manipulation and engineering using freeware, both against the dimensions and rates of frames.

"So, what was left at the trial and presented by the prosecutor at that time was the remaining information, which was 10.4 percent," Rismon said in a review hearing (PK) at the Central Jakarta District Court (PN) as reported by ANTARA, Monday, November 4.

The distortion, he said, was mainly seen from expert analysts at the trial of the premeditated murder case of Wayan Mirna Salihin, namely Muhammad Nur Al-Azhar and Christopher Hariman Rianto, in CCTV footage number 9 at the crime scene, namely Olivier Cafe, Grand Indonesia.

In the statements of the two experts, it was found that there were 50,810 frames in the CCTV footage presented. In fact, in the recorded document metadata, there are 50,910 frames.

Therefore, he questioned where the 100 frames were lost. In addition, there are also other distortions that can be seen due to the frame-second rate which was lowered from 25 frame-second to 10 frame-second.

"As many as 100 frames with a rate of 10 frames per second, meaning that 10 seconds of video duration are deliberately removed from the videochannel09 at 15.35 WIB to 15.59 WIB," he said.

Rismon emphasized that these distortions had a profound impact on various events recorded by CCTV, including Jessica's movement and coffee colors delivered by cafe waitresses.

Rismon was presented as an expert by Jessica's legal team to strengthen Jessica's PK application.

During the trial, Jessica asked to be acquitted of Mirna's murder charges.

Even though Jessica is already released on condition, Jessica still feels that she has not committed the actions she has been accused of, so she wants to refute and hope that the Supreme Court (MA) declares herself innocent.

When reading PK's memory at the trial at the Central Jakarta District Court, Tuesday (29/10), Jessica Wongso's legal adviser, Andra Reinhard Pasaribu, said the request was due to CCTV footage allegedly being engineered and proven at the previous trial that the CCTV footage confiscation procedure was not in accordance with the provisions.

"The decision from the first instance of the court until a review in this case for the sake of law must be canceled because it has been based on CCTV footage which is illegal evidence," said Andra.

Since the beginning, Jessica's legal advisory team has been defending by stating that the CCTV footage played at the trial has been cut. However, at that time the legal advisory team did not have evidence of the CCTV footage, so the judge ignored it.

However, currently, Jessica's legal advisory team has found footage that can prove that the CCTV footage is incomplete from start to finish, which makes it a mistake to conclude the case.

The inventor of the CCTV footage that became new evidence (novum) of Jessica's case named Helmi Bottam. He was sworn in before the PK memory was read.

Previously, the Directorate General of Corrections at the Ministry of Law and Human Rights stated that Jessica was released from condition starting Sunday, August 18, 2024.

As a conditionally free convict, Jessica is still required to report and undergo guidance until 2032.