Two young Australians who led a drug smuggling ring transporting heroin from the idyllic resort of Bali to their home country were sentenced to death by firing squad today.

The sentencing of Andrew Chan, 22, and Myuran Sukumaran, 24, was carried live on television in Australia, where recent cases involving Australians caught up in Indonesia's draconian drugs laws have triggered intense public interest.

The two men showed little emotion as the sentences were announced. Around them, Indonesian anti-drug campaigners shouted for joy, while the men's families broke down in tears.

In Canberra, John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister who has criticised Indonesia's drug laws in the past, did not question the sentences, which he said were predictable given the weight of the evidence.

"I feel desperately sorry for the parents of these people, I do," Mr Howard said. "But the warnings have been there for decades, and how on earth any young Australian can be so stupid as to take the risk is completely beyond me."

Chan and Sukumaran were the leaders of an all-Australian gang, known as the "Bali Nine," which was broken up last April when five men were arrested in the departure lounge of Denpasar International Airport in Bali. Four of them had heroin strapped to their bodies.

In a co-ordinated raid, the four remaining members of the ring were picked up in Bali hotel, where they were found in their room with 350g of heroin and a set of weighing scales.

In total, the nine men, all between the ages of 18 and 29, were accused of trying to smuggle 8kg of heroin to Sydney. Four members of the group were given life sentences on Monday. The remaining three are expected to be sentenced tomorrow.

Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the President of Indonesia, said that he hoped the verdicts would serve as an example to others.

Judge Arief Supartman criticised the men for showing no remorse and said a panel of three judges at the Denpasar District Court had found them guilty of "exporting heroin in an organized ring". Chan was also blamed for "damaging Bali’s international reputation."

Police escorted the two out of the courtroom in handcuffs, pushing them past hundreds of reporters and television crews and into a prison van.

The "Bali Nine" have the right to appeal, a process that could take years, or seek a presidential pardon, which would require an admission of guilt.

Canberra routinely pleads for death sentences passed on its citizens by foreign courts to be commuted to time in prison, but it is unlikely to take any steps until the legal process is complete.

Howard said that while he "would take appropriate action; to help members of the smuggling ring, "you cannot expect the Australian government to overturn the laws of another country".

There have been several drug cases involving Australians overseas in recent months. Nguyen Tuong Van was executed in Singapore in December after he was found guilty of heroin smuggling.

A Bali court sentenced Michelle Leslie, an Australian model, to three months in jail for using drugs in November, and Schapelle Corby, former beautician, was imprisoned for 20 years in May for smuggling marijuana onto the island.

Times Recommends

• Zardari still has to tackle tough questions
• Material evidence 'debunks' Turin Shroud
• BBC criticised over Uganda gay execution poll