Actress Jurnee Smollett has voiced support for her brother, Jussie Smollett, after the former “Empire” actor was sentenced to five months in jail for orchestrating a false hate crime narrative, in which he told law enforcement he was attacked by two men who yelled racist and homophobic slurs.

Jurnee Smollett, Jussie’s younger sister, asserted that she believes in her brother’s innocence in an Instagram post that shared on Saturday afternoon. Her statement also argues that the matter of Jussie’s innocence has little to do with whether he should be incarcerated or not.

“Black Americans are incarcerated in state prisons at nearly five times the rate of White Americans. Jussie is innocent,” Jurnee Smollett’s post reads. “And… you don’t have to believe in his innocence to believe he should be free.”

Jurnee Smollet’s comments accompany a simple picture of white text on a black background reading “#FreeJussie.