A Russian military court on Monday convicted and sentenced a playwright and a director to 6 years in jail over a play that allegedly justifies terrorism.

The judge found director Yevgeniya Berkovich and writer Svetlana Petriychuk, who had been in pre-trial detention since May 2023, guilty under Part 2 of Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code. This provision makes the offense of “justifying terrorism” punishable by up to seven years in prison.

The basis for the prosecution was the play “Finist The Brave Falcon.” Its plot draws inspiration from Russian women who went to Syria in the mid-2010s to marry Islamist fighters and were convicted upon return to their home country. Berkovich and Petrychuk repeatedly stated that their play is intended to warn of terrorism and not justify it.

According to local media, the charges were based on contradictory statements by partially anonymous witnesses. After the prosecutor claimed the witnesses were threatened on social media, the judge conducted the interrogation of the accused and delivered the verdict behind closed doors. Journalists were barred from the courtroom from June 13 onwards.

In the eyes of the defense and human rights organizations, the real reason for the prosecution was retribution for Berkovic who had published poems criticizing the war in Ukraine. Rachel Denber, Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia at Human Rights Watch, stated on X that the duo is in prison on “utterly absurd charges, in an unfair trial that is blatant retaliation against Berkovich for speaking out against Russia’s war on Ukraine.” Berkovich and Petriychuk’s defense lawyer will appeal the verdict.

The sentence comes as part of Russia’s increasing persecution of cultural figures since the country’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.