Jakarta, Indonesia - An Indonesian court on Thursday convicted 12 Falun Gong supporters who were arrested while holding a protest in front of the Chinese embassy during a state visit by China's President Hu Jintao.
The South Jakarta District Court handed the supporters of the movement, which is outlawed in China and has been branded an "evil cult" by the government, a two-month suspended jail sentence with six months probation.
The Falun Gong supporters were arrested as the Chinese leader was meeting Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last Monday morning. The two leaders later signed a "strategic partnership" agreement that officials said paves the way for billions of dollars in trade and investment to Indonesia.
The Falung Gong protestors said they were also arrested on Saturday protesting near the site of the Asian-African Summit - the first time they have been arrested during years of demonstrations - but were later released.
"As they were convicted, it means they were proven to be guilty of violating provincial law," said South Jakarta District Court Judge Herman Tandi, citing Jakarta's law No. 11/88, article 8, which he said prohibits "actions" in the city's green areas.
"What they violated was that they broke the city bylaw by holding their action in a green area," he said.
Most of the demonstrators were sitting meditating when they were arrested in a grassy strip next to the sidewalk across from the embassy, eyewitnesses said. Photos showed groups of three or four police carrying away meditators while still sitting on their mats with eyes closed.
The supporters, who spent 24 hours in jail before being taken to court Tuesday, refused to attend the trial.
One of the defendants said the protestors had held demonstrations over 30 times since 2002, most in the same area across from the Chinese embassy, and were never arrested, despite visits by the police, intelligence officers and diplomats from the Chinese embassy.
The demonstrators said they had sent a letter, as they did with previous protests, to the police to notify authorities prior to their demonstration in accordance with the law.
"It's very strange because we were first told when we were arrested that we had violated laws on public order because we were there without permission," said one of the protestors, Hok Subagio, 57.
"I think we were arrested because there was an intervention by the government of China," he said. "On Monday, their was a visit by the president of China to the embassy, so I think they didn't want their president to see us over there."
The Chinese embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.
China made Falun Gong, an exercise and meditation practice that the Chinese government considers a dangerous, subversive movement, illegal in 1999.
Rights activists and group supporters, who say Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that is beneficial for body and mind, say thousands of its members have since been unlawfully detained and some tortured and killed while in custody.