Pacific

Indonesian woman given 20-year jail term in cyanide murder

Associated Press
Published | Updated

Jessica Kumala Wongso enters a courtroom prior to the start of her sentencing hearing at Central Jakarta District Court in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. The former Australian resident is accused of killing her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin with a cyanide-laced coffee to 20 years in prison in a dramatic climax to a trial that was broadcast live and became a national spectacle. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana) (The Associated Press)

Jessica Kumala Wongso, center, is surrounded by her lawyers after her sentence at a courtroom of Central Jakarta District Court in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. The former Australian resident is accused of killing her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin with a cyanide-laced coffee to 20 years in prison in a dramatic climax to a trial that was broadcast live and became a national spectacle. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana) (The Associated Press)

Jessica Kumala Wongso is comforted by her lawyer Otto Hasibuan after her sentence at a courtroom of Central Jakarta District Court in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2016. The former Australian resident is accused of killing her friend Wayan Mirna Salihin with a cyanide-laced coffee to 20 years in prison in a dramatic climax to a trial that was broadcast live and became a national spectacle. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana) (The Associated Press)

An Indonesian court has given a 20-year jail sentence to an Indonesian woman accused of killing a former classmate at an Australian school with cyanide-laced coffee, in a trial that was broadcast live and became a national spectacle.

The Central Jakarta District Court found Jessica Kumala Wongso guilty on Thursday of murdering Wayan Mirna Salihin at an upmarket Jakarta cafe in January. Salihin collapsed and died after sipping iced coffee at the cafe.

The two had been classmates at Billy Blue College of Design in Australia.

The court said Wongso was angry that Salihin had suggested she break up with a troublesome boyfriend.

Wongso's lawyers said they would appeal the verdict.