A Vietnamese court on Monday sentenced seven Catholics to suspended prison terms and gave another a warning for destroying property and damaging public order in a simmering land dispute with the government.

The verdict, however, amounted to a slap on the wrist for the Catholics, who say they have been trying for years to get back a large plot next to a church in Hanoi that the government took control of about five decades ago. They have staged several protests around the land in recent months.

Many expected some, if not all, of the defendants to go to jail.

Earlier, hundreds of Vietnamese police sealed off the street in front of the building where the trial took place.

More than 1,000 Vietnamese Catholics arrived to support the defendants, a rare expression of dissent against the ruling Communist Party.

When Monday's trial ended, Catholic supporters and the defendants headed to the Thai Ha church nearby, where they rang the church bell and chanted "One, two, three: Innocent!", "One, Two, Three: Hallelujah!" several times before a special mass to give thanks.

In August, state television showed pictures of people using hoes and hammers to break what it said was a section of the brick wall surrounding the plot, leading to police claims of "causing public disorder" and "intentional destruction of property".

Religion remains under state supervision in the mostly Buddhist country, although Vietnam has the second largest Catholic community in Southeast Asia after the Philippines, with about 6-8 million among the 86.5 million population.

"This result shows that senior government officials want good relations with the Church," said a Western diplomat who was allowed to attend the trial but who declined to be named.

The Hanoi government is working towards establishing formal diplomatic relations with the Vatican, and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung visited the Pope there a year ago.

But even while the eight defendants avoided jail, church leaders felt the verdict was too harsh.

"Emotionally, we are very happy because all the accused are free. But theoretically, we don't think that this is finished because the accused are always considered as having violated the laws, and so we will continue our search for more justice," said Matthew Vu Khoi Phung, senior father at the Thai Ha church.

"We have some soul searching to do about justice in general. I don't know what we'll do, but we'll do something."

Peter Nguyen Van Khai, another priest at the church, maintained that he thought the eight were innocent and should appeal. "I think it is necessary that we appeal," he told Reuters.