By Iain Bruce BBC News, Caracas

The eight were convicted of plotting against Hugo Chavez

Three civilians in the western state of Tachira were sentenced to six years for aiding and inciting rebellion.

Five others were sentenced to three years but granted conditional liberty, while one defendant was acquitted.

President Chavez has repeatedly alleged that the coup was encouraged by the US government in Washington.

The eight local politicians and businessmen were accused of illegally detaining the pro-Chavez governor of Tachira state two-and-a-half years ago.

This is the first time anyone has been found guilty in connection with those events.

In August 2002, Venezuela's Supreme Court ruled that there was not enough evidence to proceed with trials of the military commanders at the centre of the revolt.

Popular support

The coup ended when tens of thousands of people descended from the shanty towns of Caracas to support the soldiers who remained loyal to the president.

Since then, many of those supporters have been pressing in vain for the courts to take action against those they regard as plotters.

But the president's opponents say the verdict in Tachira is politically motivated, and the defendants were guilty of nothing more than dissent.

They fear these first convictions point to a new, harder line from the judicial system, which they accuse the government of manipulating.