T

he Australian Federal Police (AFP) have agreed to assist the investigation into the murder of Wayan Mirna Salihin, 27, who was allegedly poisoned by her same-age friend Jessica Kumala Wongso earlier this year.

The Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported on Monday that Australian Justice Minister Michael Keenan approved the AFP'€™s decision to help the Jakarta Police in the investigation into the case after Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Tito Karnavian met him in Australia last week.

The decision to assist the Indonesian authorities in the case was approved after the Jakarta Police agreed that Jessica, whom the SMH said has Australian permanent resident status, would not face the death penalty.

The police have charged Jessica with committing premeditated murder, which, according to the Criminal Code, is punishable by the maximum sentence of death.

'€œThe Indonesian government has given an assurance to the Australian government that the death penalty will not be sought nor carried out in relation to the alleged offending,'€ a spokeswoman for Keenan was quoted as saying.

Jakarta Police general crimes director Sr. Comr. Krishna Murti was also quoted as saying that the police would not seek capital punishment for the suspect.

'€œPlease note that the death penalty is the maximum sentence, it'€™s reserved for extraordinary crimes only,'€ he said. '€œAfter the guarantee, approval was given and now we have started cooperating with the AFP.'€

The Jakarta Police asked the AFP to provide information about the two women'€™s relationship and interaction when they studied at Billy Blue College of Design in Sydney and Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne.

Mirna'€™s father, Darmawan Salihin previously revealed a whatsapp conversation between Mirna and Jessica that may be of significance in the case.

'€œJessica said '€˜Mirna give me a kiss. It has been a long time since you have given me a kiss'€™,'€ he said in a live television broadcast.

He said that it was something that he found odd, knowing that Mirna had been dating Arif Sumarko for eight years before the two married in December 2015.

Mirna did not invite Jessica to her wedding, Darmawan added, explaining that the two had lost contact after graduation.

The police have named Jessica the only suspect in the high-profile murder of Mirna, who died shortly after sipping cyanide-laced coffee at a restaurant in a shopping mall in Central Jakarta in January.

In an attempt to challenge her suspect status, Jessica filed a pretrial motion claiming that the move was made without sufficient evidence and the investigation had been carried out improperly.

However, the Central Jakarta District Court rejected her challenge on Tuesday, which allows the police to investigate further the murder, the motive for which is as yet unknown.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Mohammad Iqbal said previously that the motive would only be presented at the trial.

Police had handed over the dossier on Jessica to the Jakarta Prosecutor'€™s Office, but it was returned to be completed by the police.

The office'€™ s head Sudung Situmorang said that police had yet to provide material evidence showing the chronology of the cyanide being put into Mirna'€™s coffee, or the identity of the poisoner.

The police previously said that they had CCTV footage from the restaurant where Mirna drank the cyanide-laced coffee.