Six followers of the Falun Gong spiritual movement have been fined the maximum 1,000 Singapore dollars (about 21,700 baht, $645) for taking part in an illegal assembly protesting treatment of fellow practitioners in China, news reports said on Thursday.

During the 16-day trial, the prosecution showed District Judge Terence Chua a video tape taken by an officer, The Straits Times said.

It showed the women distributing and displaying placards and banners in a busy shopping area accusing the Chinese government of atrocities against Falun Gong members.

While the group is legal in Singapore, it is banned in China.

The women - Pang Su Chin, 56, You Xin, 38, Wang Yuyi, 51, Ang Soh Yan, 48, Ng Chye Huay, 42, and Cheng Lujin, 39 - were not represented by lawyers. They paid the fines.

Demonstrations and other gatherings are prohibited in the city- state without a police permit.

The women said that the video tape had been tampered with, but prosecution witnesses denied any editing.

The six insisted that they had done nothing wrong.

Ng has three previous convictions, two of which were on similar charges, while Cheng has one, the report said.

(Post News Bankkok, February 15, 2007)