Jakarta - A court in Indonesia's Papua province on Thursday jailed five Australians for two and three years in prison for landing a plane illegally, a prosecutor said.

The five Australians were arrested in September after landing a small plane in the Papuan district of Merauke. The plane departed from Australia's Horn Island.

Judges at the Merauke district court sentenced the pilot, William Scott-Bloxam, to three years in prison and fined him 50 million rupiah (4,550 dollars), said prosecutor Rifky Firmansyah.

The four others in the group each received two years in jail and were ordered to pay a fine of 25 million rupiah, he said.

"The sentences conformed with our demand," Rifky said by telephone.

The Australians have said they had flown to Papua for sightseeing and assumed they could get visas on arrival.

However, Papua is home to a low-level separatist insurgency and normal visa on arrival regulations are not applicable. Foreign journalists are not allowed to enter the region without special permission. (dpa)