2/11/0 5:12 (New York)

HONG KONG, Feb 11 (AFP) - A leader of the banned Falungong spiritual movement who led northern Chinese members in a mass protest last year has been sentenced to nine years in prison, a rights group said Friday.

The Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said Gao Qiuju, 59, was Falungong's leader in the city of Dalian since 1994 and its most prominent member in north-east China.

The Hong Kong-based centre said authorities accuse Gao, a trading company manager, with bringing hundreds of fellow practitioners from Dalian to Beijing to join an April 25 a demonstration of some 10,000 followers around the headquarters of the Communist Party.

Gao's relatives were told on Thursday of his February 1 sentencing at Dalian's Xigang district court for "using an evil cult to disturb social stability and for leaking state secrets," the centre said.

A statement from the centre said Gao was charged with passing on official documents to fellow Falungong members describing government plans to launch the crackdown after the mass gathering.

Chinese authorities admit having detained more than 35,000 members last year, while scores of "core leaders" of the group have been tried and sentenced to up to 18 years imprisonment.