Jessica Wongso Walks Out of Judicial Review Hearing Again

The convict in the premeditated murder case Jessica Kumala Wongso and her legal adviser, Hidayat Bostam/ANTARA/Agatha Olivia Victoria

JAKARTA - Convicted murder case Jessica Kumala Wongso and her legal team have again stated their intention to walk out of the judicial review (PK) hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court.

Jessica's legal advisor, Hidayat Bostam, said that his party had again walked out of the PK hearing this time because the public prosecutor (JPU) as the respondent presented an expert at the hearing for the second time.

"According to our agreement last week when the prosecutor presented an expert, we objected. Our objection was recorded in the hearing because the respondent should only be able to respond or provide an opinion," said Hidayat when met after leaving the expert examination hearing at the Central Jakarta District Court as reported by ANTARA, Monday, November 25.

Therefore, he said, the JPU as the respondent to the PK should comply with the procedural law. Article 236 of the Criminal Procedure Code (KUHAP) has stipulated that the PK hearing is the applicant's "stage".

According to him, the decision that submitted the PK application has permanent legal force or is final, but the convict still has the right to file a PK.

"Well, why does the prosecutor as the respondent always counter by presenting experts to be examined? It shouldn't be necessary," he said.

Just like this trial, in Jessica's previous PK application trial at the Central Jakarta District Court, Monday (11/18), the Public Prosecutor as the respondent presented experts to be examined so that in the PK application trial, the Public Prosecutor was recorded as presenting experts twice.

In the PK application trial, Jessica asked to be acquitted of the premeditated murder charge of Wayan Mirna Salihin.

Even though Jessica has been released on parole, Jessica still feels that she did not commit the act accused of her so she wants to deny it and hopes that the Supreme Court will declare her not guilty.

When reading the PK memo at the trial at the Central Jakarta District Court, Tuesday (10/29), Jessica Wongso's legal advisor, Andra Reinhard Pasaribu, said the request was because the CCTV recording was suspected of having been fabricated and it was proven in the previous trial that the procedure for confiscating CCTV recordings was not in accordance with the provisions.

"The verdict from the first level court to the judicial review in this case must be canceled by law because it was based on CCTV footage which is invalid evidence," said Andra.

From the beginning, Jessica's legal team has defended themselves by stating that the CCTV footage played at the trial had been cut.

However, at that time the legal team did not have evidence of the CCTV footage so the judge ignored it.

However, Jessica's legal team has now found footage that can prove that the CCTV footage was not complete from beginning to end, which led to a mistake in concluding the case.

The person who discovered the CCTV footage that became new evidence (novum) in Jessica's case was named Helmi Bostam. He was sworn in before the PK memo was read.

Previously, the Directorate General of Corrections of the Ministry of Law and Human Rights stated that Jessica was on parole starting Sunday, August 18, 2024.

As a convict on parole, Jessica is still required to report and undergo counseling until 2032.