AN INDONESIAN court sentenced an Australian woman yesterday to 20 years in prison for smuggling 4.1kg (9lb) of marijuana into Bali.

The verdict prompted outrage in Australia and an unusual show of support for a convicted drug smuggler from her country’s Prime Minister. Schapelle Corby, 27, who was arrested on holiday in October last year, has consistently proclaimed her innocence, insisting that the drug was planted in her luggage during her flight from Brisbane to Bali via Sydney.

Her lawyers argued that she was the victim of an Australian drug ring and that the cannabis was placed in her bodyboard bag by airport baggage handlers. Her story was reinforced when police uncovered a drug trafficking operation through Sydney airport.

Many Australians reacted angrily to her conviction and sentence, accusing the Indonesian judiciary of corruption and unfairness. The Australian Government offered to send two senior lawyers to help Corby’s appeal and said that it would start negotiations with Jakarta on a prisoner transfer pact.

“I think the entire nation feels for this girl,” John Howard, the Prime Minister, said. “But we have to accept the justice system of other countries. I ask that we all pause and understand the situation and recognise and respect that when we visit other countries we are subject to the laws and rules of those countries.”

As the verdict was read out, Corby lost her composure, slapping her head with her hands and sobbing in disbelief.

Her mother, Rosleigh, who was in the court, screamed at the judges, accusing them of assuming that her daughter was guilty regardless of the evidence. As police attempted to restrain her she cried out: “Liar, liar — honey we are going to take you home.”

Corby pleaded with her mother to stop shouting. The court broke up in scenes of pandemonium as the Australian beautician was led to a waiting police van and a prison cell.

Her Indonesian lawyer, Lily Lubis, said that she doubted whether Corby could survive 20 years in jail.

Callers to radio stations contrasted the harsh sentence with lesser punishment given to some of those linked to the Bali bombing.

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