No evidence in cyanide murder: lawyer

A young woman accused of murdering her friend by lacing her coffee with cyanide should never have been named as the prime suspect and should be released immediately, her lawyers say.

Labelling her ongoing detention as a "gross violation" of human rights, Jessica Kumala's lawyers has called on a Jakarta court to find her arrest had been illegal and order she be released from custody immediately.

They have also pushed the court to lift her six-month travelling ban.

In a case that has dominated headlines in Indonesia, Jessica is accused of killing Wayan Mirna Salihin, whom she studied with in Australia.

Shortly after they graduated in 2008, Mirna returned to Indonesia while Jessica continued to work in Australia.

It wasn't until late last year that Jessica returned to Jakarta, catching up with 27-year-old Mirna and their friend Hani weeks later at a popular Jakarta cafe.

It was here on January 6, police allege, that Jessica ordered the Vietnamese iced coffee which caused Mirna to collapse and convulse just moments after she sipped it.

She was confirmed dead a short time later in hospital.

Since then police and local media have focused their attention on Jessica who was named the prime suspect in the alleged murder last month.

In a pre-trial motion at Central Jakarta District Court on Tuesday, Jessica's lawyer Hidayat Bustam said there wasn't enough evidence to justify his client's ongoing detention.

"(Police) cannot prove the concrete actions of my client, which means they have made a gross human rights violation by detaining her without strong evidence.

"There has been an abuse of power, with police forgetting Indonesia is a country based on law, not power."

Hidayat alleged police had conducted a search of Jessica's home without the required legal documentation and had on one occasion subjected his client to almost 12 hours of interrogation.

He denied his client had anything to do with poisoning Mirna's coffee and questioned why the pair's friend Hani and a staff member at the cafe, who had also tasted the coffee, had not died as well.

"There is no concrete evidence as to who put the cyanide in the coffee."

Judge Wayan Netra said the court's ruling will be handed down before March 2.