BATAM: An Indonesian court sentenced two British television journalists to two and a half months in jail on Tuesday for violating immigration regulations by working with tourist visas.

Neil Bonner and Rebecca Prosser were detained in May in Batam, a city just south of Singapore, while making a documentary about piracy in the Malacca Strait.

They were filming a re-enactment of a robbery off Serapat island near Batam and failed to show proper documents, including journalist visas, said Bani Ganting, a prosecutor who sought 5-month jail terms for the defendants.

“I don’t think journalism is a crime,” Bonner told reporters after the verdict. “I think this makes it a more dangerous landscape for other journalists in Indonesia.”

The government has promised to ease visa restrictions for international media since President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo took office last year. However, foreign journalists still need to apply for special visas that can take weeks to be approved or denied.

Bonner and Prosser were working for Wall to Wall, a London-based company that is producing the documentary, funded by National Geographic. They were held under house arrest for four months before being transferred to a prison in Batam in September. Their trial began last month.

The maximum penalty for visa violations is five years’ imprisonment.