KINSHASA, Oct 1, 2008 (AFP) - Nine members of an outlawed religious sect in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been sentenced to death, judicial sources said Wednesday.

The court at Matadi in western Bas-Congo region handed down the sentences following a trial that lasted nearly three months to 'nine members of the Bundu dia Kongo (BDK) sect and acquitted four others,' said the sources.

Some 17 followers were prosecuted for offences including associating with criminals and undermining the security of the state following their arrest in March in the wake of violent clashes with police.

At least 27 people died in the violence according to the government which claims the BDK had attacked state targets, killed police and driven non-natives from the region. Other sources put the number of dead at up to 100.

President Joseph Kabila's government in March sent police reinforcements after three people were burned alive by suspected members of the BDK. Community leaders and local authorities had for months accused the sect of acts of intolerance.

Four of those arrested died while in detention.

Bundu dia Kongo means the 'Kingdom of the Kongo' in the Kikongo language and sect members, known as the Makessa, are hostile to the police as symbols of the vast central African state's authority.

The BDK campaigns for secession in order to restore an African monarchy that included what is today Bas-Congo along with parts of neighbouring Angola, the Republic of Congo and Gabon.

In April the BDK's spiritual leader Ne Muanda Nsemi said followers were being hunted down in what he called a murderous crackdown by the authorities.

Opposition lawmakers from the Bas-Congo region said up to 300 people had died in the crackdown while UN sources and charities put the figure at over 100.