An Ethiopian court has sentenced two Swedish journalists to 11 years in prison on charges of supporting terrorism after the pair illegally entered the country with an ethnic Somali rebel group.

Photojournalist Johan Persson and reporter Martin Schibbye were detained by Ethiopian security forces in July while travelling with the outlawed separatist group, the Ogaden National Liberation Front, and were put on  trial in October. The chairman of the Swedish Union of Journalists, Jonas Nordling, has been reported as saying that the sentence is aimed at deterring journalists from investigating alleged human rights abuses in the tense Ogaden region, adding that there is no evidence to support the pair’s conviction on terror charges.