Bali - An Indonesian court sentenced two Australian citizens on Monday to life in prison for attempting to smuggle more than 11kg of heroin out of the resort island of Bali nearly a year ago.
Bali's Denpasar district court handed down a life sentence for Renae Lawrence - the first of a group of Australians known as the "Bali Nine" to be sentenced in the high-profile smuggling case - for acting as a drug courier.
"Renae Lawrence has been legally and convincingly found guilty of committing a crime on narcotics for exporting illegal drugs out of Bali," Chief Judge Putu Widnya said in his ruling.
"The court hereby hands down a sentence of life in prison to the defendant," Widnya said.
Lawrence, 28, bowed her head and shook it left to right in disbelief after the sentence was read.
She spoke briefly to her defence lawyers and was then escorted out of the packed courtroom by guards before she could speak with her father, Bob Lawrence.
Immediately after the trial, the same court also convicted and sentenced another defendant, Scott Antoni Rush, 20, to life in jail for trying to courier drugs out of Bali.
Lawrence from the state of New South Wales and Rush were both caught at Bali's Ngurah Rai airport with packages of heroin taped to their bodies as they were about to board a flight to Sydney.
Prosecutors had sought 20 years in prison for Lawrence, the only woman among the nine young Australians dubbed by the Australian media as the "Bali Nine," who was arrested in April for trying to smuggle heroin from Bali to Australia.
Under Indonesian law, a prosecution demand is non-binding for judges but is seen as a strong recommendation.
Prosecutors had demanded life in prison for Rush, who looked up and down as his verdict was read.
In its ruling on Lawrence, judges denied her claims in the previous hearings that she carried the drugs only after being threatened by the alleged bosses of the gang, Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, who face possible death sentences in their trials, which are scheduled to resume Tuesday.
One of Lawrence's defence lawyers said his client would decide within a week whether she would file an appeal to a higher court to try to overturn the verdict.
Rush's defence lawyer, Robert Khuana, told reporters his client had already decided to appeal.
"We're victims of a drug syndicate," Rush's father, Lee Rush, told reporters at the court. His wife, Christine, added, "This is a sad tragedy for our children and our family."
Monday's sentences set an uncompromising tone for the rest of the Bali Nine verdicts, scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
The arrests of the nine sparked controversy in Australia after it emerged that Australian police had tipped off their Indonesian counterparts, even though Canberra opposes the death penalty.
The trials are the latest in a series of high-profile drug cases involving Australians in Indonesia.
Schapelle Corby, 28, was found guilty in May of smuggling 4,1 kilograms of marijuana found stashed inside her unlocked surfboard bag when she arrived in Bali.
Her 20-year sentence was greeted with anger in Australia, where many people contend she was the innocent victim of an international drug-smuggling ring.
An Australian model, Michelle Leslie, 24, was also charged in Bali for the illegal possession of two ecstasy tablets after her arrest in August.
She was given a three-month sentence.
Indonesian courts have delivered a string of tough sentences against foreigners on drug charges.
In 2004, Indonesia executed an Indian national and two Thais found guilty of smuggling heroin into the country a decade ago. - Sapa-dpa