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Aussie cyanide-coffee killer accused faces 20 years in Indonesian jail

Prosecutors allege Wongo's crime was "cruel" and "sadistic".

Prosecutors allege Wongo's crime was "cruel" and "sadistic". Photo: AAP

The Australian resident accused of murdering her friend with a cyanide-laced coffee in Jakarta should be jailed for 20 years, prosecutors say.

Following almost four months of the highly publicised trial, prosecutors called for 27-year-old Jessica Kumala Wongso on Wednesday night to spend two decades in prison, describing her alleged crime as “cruel” and “sadistic”.

“The defendant’s planning to take the life of victim, Wayan Mirna Salihin, was well prepared and showed the defendant’s determination,” prosecutors told Central Jakarta District Court.

“The defendant’s actions were very cruel because it was committed against her own friend.

“(It) was sadistic because the poison cyanide used to take the life of victim, Wayan Mirna Salihin, didn’t immediately kill her, but tortured (her).”

Wongso is accused of poisoning her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin, also 27, whom she studied with at the Sydney design school Billy Blue.

Prosecutors allege Wongso sought to “avenge her pain” over the break-up with her Australian boyfriend Patrick O’Connor, whom Mirna did not approve.

Wongso allegedly sought to "avenge her pain" over the break-up with her Australian boyfriend. Photo: AAP.

Wongso allegedly sought to “avenge her pain” over the break-up with her Australian boyfriend. Photo: AAP.

To this end, they say, Wongso returned to Jakarta and on January 6 met up with Mirna at Olivier restaurant, ordered her friend a Vietnamese iced coffee and laced it with cyanide.

Moments after sipping it Mirna’s head rolled back and she began frothing at the mouth. She died in hospital hours later.

Wongso denies these allegations.

While the charge of premeditated murder in Indonesia carries the maximum penalty of death, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) only agreed to assist the investigation on the proviso such a sentence would not be sought or imposed.

During the marathon hearing, prosecutors did not give a definitive answer as to where Wongso obtained the cyanide that allegedly killed her friend, arguing instead that it was “easily available on the black market”

They also took aim at witnesses put forward by the defence, including Australian toxicologist Professor Beng Beng Ong who had told the court the level of cyanide found in Mirna’s stomach was not consistent with fatal poisoning and an autopsy was needed.

His evidence should be dismissed, prosecutors said, as he was later detained at the airport and deported for testifying in court on a tourist visa.

Wongso’s legal team are expected to respond next week.

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