Three Australians were jailed for life today for their roles in a heroin smuggling ring on Indonesia's Bali island, wrapping up a series of tough verdicts against a group of nine young Australians.
The so-called "Bali Nine" were arrested on the famous resort island last April for attempting to smuggle more than 8.2 kg (18 lb) of heroin from Indonesia to their home country.
The Denpasar District Court sentenced Tach Duc Thanh Nguyen, Si Yi Chen and Matthew Norman, who sat together as the verdicts were read out. They were arrested at a Bali hotel, where quantities of heroin, scales and other equipment were found.
Yesterday, the court sentenced two organisers of the smuggling ring to die by firing squad.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said those punishments should serve as a warning to other young Australians not to take "stupid" risks.
"These defendants have been proven legally and convincingly guilty of a narcotics crime in the illegal export of class one drugs," chief judge Istiningsih Rahayu told the court.
Nguyen, in his mid-20s, is from Brisbane. Chen (20), and Norman (19), are from Sydney.
The sentences matched what prosecutors had demanded.
The court earlier this week also sentenced four drug couriers to life in jail. They were nabbed at Bali's airport with packages of heroin strapped to their bodies.
The verdicts against the eight men and one woman have highlighted Indonesia's zero tolerance for drug offences.
Mr Howard said Australia, which does not have capital punishment, would make representations - a plea for clemency - to Indonesia on behalf of the two men sentenced to death.
Around 20 foreigners, most of them Africans, are on death row in Indonesia for drug offences.
The latest foreigners shot by firing squad for drug offences were two Thais in October 2004. They had sat on death row for eight years.
The final stage of an appeal allows inmates on death row to seek clemency from the president. The same court jailed Australian woman Schapelle Corby for 20 years last May after she was found guilty of smuggling marijuana.