Australian officials in Jakarta for prison transfer talks

Schapelle Corby

CANBERRA - Officials from Australia's foreign affairs and attorney-general's departments are expected to arrive in Indonesia today for talks on a prisoner transfer agreement.

The Australian government is seeking to sign a deal with Indonesia to allow Australians convicted in Indonesian courts, including jailed drug smuggler Schapelle Corby, to serve their time in Australia.

The officials will talk with their counterparts in Indonesian government agencies.

"We hope this will help progress negotiations," a spokeswoman for Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said today.

The talks are expected to be lengthy and complicated, as Indonesia does not have any bilateral prisoner transfer treaties.

Any deal will also require laws being passed in the Australian and Indonesian parliaments.

Australia has prisoner agreements in place with 57 other countries through the Council of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons and recently finalised a bilateral agreement with Thailand.

- AAP