Eight members of the banned spiritual movement Falun Gong were sentenced to up to 13 years in prison for briefly taking over local television and radio signals in eastern China's Anhui province, the official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday.
The Hefei Intermediate Court upheld a lower court's decision to give the followers sentences of between five and 13 years, Xinhua said.
The Hefei said there was evidence the eight people bought tools and equipment which helped them take over television and radio signals May 31 to publicize the movement, Xinhua said, without elaborating.
At least 3,900 households were affected during the 30-minute takeover, during which pirate transmissions touting the benefits of the group were played, Xinhua said.
China has said such transmissions "disrupted the public order" and go against international communications standards.
A man who answered the telephone Saturday at the court in Hefei, Anhui's capital city, said no one was on duty and declined comment.
Falun Gong attracted millions of followers during the 1990s with its combination of calisthenics and philosophies drawn from Buddhism, Taoism and the unorthodox ideas of its founder, Li Hongzhi, a former soldier and government clerk living in the United States.
Followers say the practice promotes health and morality, and experienced practitioners can gain supernatural powers such as the ability to fly.
China's leaders banned Falun Gong in July 1999, fearing the group's size and organizational ability could challenge Communist Party rule.
Since then, thousands of followers have been detained. Most are freed after a few months, though a government official said earlier this year that nearly 1,300 had been sentenced to prison.
Falun Gong activists abroad say hundreds of supporters have been killed in detention. Chinese officials deny killing detainees but say some have died during hunger strikes or because they refused medical help.
Falun Gong members have hacked into local television feeds and broadcasts several times in recent months.
On Sept. 9, Xinhua reported that signals of a service designed to enable remote villages across the country to see broadcasts from China Central Television, or CCTV, the leading government-run network, were jammed.
Also in September, 15 people were convicted of breaking into a cable television system to show videos protesting China's ban on Falun Gong. They were sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.