In 2004,
Alexander Downer, the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, announced that the
Australian Government would be requesting permission from Indonesia to test the cannabis and help determine its point of origin.[SUP]
[34][/SUP] It was argued that testing of the cannabis would have strengthened Corby's defence if it could have been shown that the drugs were grown in Indonesia, or potentially weakened it if they were grown in southern Queensland.[SUP]
[34][/SUP] However, shortly thereafter the Australian Consul General in Indonesia informed Corby that the AFP had no jurisdiction in the case, and in early 2005 the AFP was advised that the Bali police would not be providing a sample.[SUP]
[35][/SUP] Downer acknowledged that Indonesia had denied the request, but clarified that as the case was in Indonesia, it was their
sovereign right to do so.[SUP]
[31][/SUP]
Three years later, in 2007, Vasu Rasiah, the "case co-ordinator" for Corby's defence team, appeared on
Today Tonight to say that he managed to obtain a sample of the cannabis for testing prior to Corby's conviction, but that Corby did not allow the sample to be tested.[SUP]
[35][/SUP][SUP]
[36][/SUP] This was similar to earlier claims by Mike Keelty, who in 2005 stated that Corby's legal team had advised the AFP that they did not wish to have the drugs tested when it became apparent that the results of the tests would be shared with Indonesia.[SUP]
[37][/SUP] In both cases these versions of events were disputed by Corby's family, who insisted that it was the Indonesian police who turned down the request, and that they wished to have the drugs examined by Australian authorities.[SUP]
[36][/SUP][SUP]
[37][/SUP]
