Bali Nine heroin goes up in smoke

DENPASAR, June 15 (Reuters) Indonesian officials set fire today to 6.1 kg of heroin that nine Australians, called the ''Bali Nine'', were convicted of trying to smuggle on the resort island of Bali.

Six of the nine Australians were sentenced to death last year after their appeals were rejected by Indonesia's Supreme Court.

The heroin was torched outside the prosecutors' office in Denpasar, the capital of Bali, in the presence of the island's deputy police chief and the head of the local anti-narcotics agency.

''The Supreme Court has issued verdicts that are legally binding, so now we can destroy the evidence,'' Denpasar district chief prosecutor, Made Suryatmaja, told reporters.

Three of the Australians have filed final appeals to have the death sentences overturned.

The group of eight men and one woman were arrested in Bali in April 2005 while trying to smuggle more than 8.2 kg of heroin into Australia.

The rest was destroyed earlier.

Indonesia imposes the death sentence for many narcotic offences, defending the penalty as necessary to deter others in a country with a growing drugs menace.

The most recent foreigners executed for drugs offences were two Thai nationals in October 2004.

In May five Chinese nationals, a Dutchman and a Frenchman who appealed against the length of their convictions on drug charges were instead sentenced to death.

REUTERS SLD ND1708