Death penalty sought for Bali 9 leader

DENPASAR, Indonesia, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- Indonesian prosecutors Thursday demanded the death sentence for Andrew Chan, alleged leader of nine Australians accused of smuggling heroin.

Chan, 22, is accused of organizing the group in a plan to transport 8 kilograms of heroin, worth an estimated $3 million, from Bali to Australia.

The nine were arrested at Bali airport on April 17 last year with the heroin in their possession. All are facing trial in Bali.

Earlier this week prosecutors demanded that Chan's alleged partner Myuran Sukumaran, 24, also be executed, The Australian reported.

The Denpasar District Court was told that Chan was the financier and that Sukumaran had helped oversee the operation.

Prosecutors have recommended that six members of the group be given life sentences.

On Wednesday they asked that the only woman in the group, Renae Lawrence, 28, be jailed for 20 years. The reduced sentence was for informing on her co-defendants, the report said.

Verdicts in the case are expected next month. The recommended sentences are not binding on the judges.

If the death sentences are meted out, they will be the first by an Indonesian court on Australians.