DENPASAR, Indonesia (AFP) - Indonesian prosecutors sought a life sentence for an Australian woman on trial for allegedly smuggling a large quantity of marijuana onto the resort island of Bali.

The former beauty student, who has denied the charge, shed tears as the prosecutor's request -- far short of the maximum permitted death penalty -- was translated in the court in the Balinese capital, Denpasar.

"The defendant has been proven, legally and convincingly of illegally and in contravention of the laws, importing class one narcotics," Prosecutor Ida Bagus Wiswantanu said.

Corby's case has attracted unprecedented media interest in her homeland, prompting the Australian government to lobby Indonesian legal authorities on her behalf.

The trial is one of the few sticking points in improving ties between the neighbours, which frayed in 1999 when Canberra sent peacekeepers to East Timor during Indonesia's bloody withdrawal from its former territory.

Wiswantanu said that the sentence would reflect the fact that Corby's alleged crime had sullied Bali's holiday island image and caused mental anguish to its people. Her plea of not guilty would also weigh against her.

The court was adjourned for one week as Corby repeatedly said, "it's not fair," while hugging her lawyer and sobbing sister, Mercedes.

Corby's Australian lawyers have said that they had obtained new evidence that she was unwittingly used as a courier by organised criminals trying to smuggle the drugs on a connecting flight from Brisbane to Sydney.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said Jakarta may agree to a request by Australia for Corby to serve time in her country if convicted, pending a legal agreement between the two nations.

Thursday's submission by prosecutors was only a recommendation, which judges can choose to ignore.

Indonesian courts have been handing out severe penalties in narcotics trials in the past few years as the country attempts to get tough on a growing drug abuse problem.

Thirty one death sentences for drug offences have been issued since 2000.

Two Thai nationals and an Indian convicted for drug trafficking in 1994 were executed, by firing squads, last year.

Nine more Australians are facing a possible death penalty in Bali for allegedly smuggling heroin after they were arrested earlier this week in a joint operation by Indonesian and Australian police.

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