Australians jailed for Bali drugs

Renae Lawrence (R) had expected a more lenient sentence

A Bali court has sentenced two Australians to life in prison for drugs smuggling, despite prosecution calls for clemency for one of them.

Judges ignored arguments that the only woman in the case, Renee Lawrence, should be given a 20-year sentence because she helped investigators.

Seven other people are due to be sentenced this week, in a case dubbed as the "Bali nine" in Australia.

Prosecutors have called for death sentences for two defendants.

Renee Lawrence was the first of the so-called "Bali nine" to be sentenced for trying to traffic more than 8.3kg (18lb) of heroin last April.

Both she and Scott Rush, also sentenced on Monday, were detained at Bali's airport in April 2005 with heroin strapped to their bodies.

Prosecutors had asked the court in the Balinese capital of Denpasar to show leniency to Lawrence because she was helpful in giving statements during the investigation.

Both she and Rush had claimed they faced death threats if they did not take part in the smuggling ring.

But the judges ignored this request, saying her behaviour while on trial was no different from some other defendants, and there was no evidence that she had been forced to carry the drugs.

'Shocked'

Lawrence, 28, stared at the floor and shook her head after the verdict was announced.

Her lawyer said she was "shocked" by the decision, and added that she had not yet decided whether to appeal against the verdict, or request a presidential pardon.

Rush wept openly when told of the life sentence by the translator and later told journalists as he left the room that "I am just a victim".

Indonesia has increasingly become a transit route for drug traffickers, and courts across the country have toughened up on offenders in recent years, sentencing several foreigners to death for serious drugs offences.

Another Australian, beauty therapist Schapelle Corby, was found guilty of smuggling marijuana into Bali and sentenced to 20 years in jail last May.