JEMAAH ISLAMIAH terrorists and Australian drug offenders will spend more years in jail as a result of Indonesia's decision to curtail sentence remissions.

The Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has approved regulations forcing all terrorists, drug offenders and prisoners convicted of other serious crimes to serve at least two-thirds of their original sentences.

They will not be eligible for the remissions regularly issued to other prisoners until they have served at least a third of their jail terms.

The Herald has obtained a copy of the regulations, which have not been announced. They were drawn up after the outcry against large sentence cuts for the former Jemaah Islamiah leader Abu Bakar Bashir and terrorists convicted over the Bali bombings.

The Australian Government has strongly objected to the sentence cuts for terrorists and Bashir, who served only two years and six months for approving the first Bali bombing.

Until now all prisoners have automatically received sentence reductions at least twice a year, which can halve their jail terms. Normally a prisoner sentenced to 20 years could expect to spend 10 years or less in jail. Under the changes they would have to serve nearly 14 years.

The guidelines are likely to apply to the convicted cannabis smuggler Schapelle Corby and the nine members of the Bali heroin smuggling group sentenced to prison terms, who are yet to be granted remissions because they are appealing against their sentences.

An Indonesian Justice Ministry official indicated the guidelines would not apply to prisoners who have already received remissions, but how they would be applied to foreign prisoners, such as Corby, would become a "political issue".

They would probably be enforced against four terrorists recently found guilty of assisting the second bombings in Bali last October.

A spokesman for Indonesia's Foreign Ministry said the new rules would be used as a guide for when Australian prisoners could be transferred home under a proposed prisoner exchange treaty.

They mean that Corby and members of the Bali nine jailed for 20 years would probably need to serve more than six years in Indonesia before being eligible for sentence cuts or return to Australia.

The new restrictions will also apply to corruption convictions, gross human rights abuses and organised transnational crime.

The regulations have been approved by Dr Yudhoyono and Indonesia's Justice Minister, Hamid Awaludin, who arrived in Australia yesterday. During his visit he will discuss the prisoner exchange treaty.

Australia and Indonesia have been in dispute over when prisoners would be eligible for transfer home. Australia has pushed for return after one or two years, while Indonesia had wanted them to serve at least half their sentences.

A Justice Ministry official, Sukartono Supangkat, said that the new remission regulations would "absolutely" be used to shape the prisoner exchange treaty, which officials hope to finalise this year.

They should come into effect by January, he said.

with Karuni Rompies