Jakarta: Indonesian authorities are seeking the maximum five-year jail sentence for a pair of French journalists arrested last month for working on tourist visas in the province of West Papua.

The call by Indonesia's Immigration Department highlights the country's paranoia about foreign media scrutiny of affairs in the restive province.

French journalists Thomas Dandois, centre, and Valentine Bourrat with an Indonesian immigration official in Jayapura city. Credit:AFP

Local police also say they are still investigating Thomas Dandois, 40, and Valentine Bourrat, 29, for the possible criminal charge known as makar, which can be translated as treason or subversion.

The two, who were working on a documentary for the French TV station Arte, have been in police custody since their arrest on August 5. They were caught in the highlands town of Wamena working while on a tourist visa.