Berlin - Three militants from a far-left German group which dreamed of violent struggle against the state were sent to jail Friday for three years or more for arson attacks on German army trucks.

Guards managed to save the parked trucks before they caught fire near the town of Brandenburg in the summer of 2007. But a series of earlier attacks which began in 2001 led to a wave of copycat attacks on luxury cars in Berlin and Hamburg that is still continuing.

A Berlin court sentenced two men, aged 37 and 48, to three and a half years each. Another man, 37, was jailed for three years. They were convicted of attempting arson and membership in a criminal gang. They were freed on bail pending appeal.

Until the trio were nabbed by waiting detectives, German anti-terrorism authorities had seemed powerless against the self-styled Militant Groups, which claimed responsibility for setting fire to army trucks and facilities.

Hard-left supporters of the trio claimed they were political prisoners and demonstrated against what they called the "show trial."

Germany's High Court has ruled that the Militant Groups - whether there are multiple groups has been doubted - are merely a crime gang and cannot be pursued using special police anti-terrorism powers.

The shadowy organization, which has not attacked since the arrest of the trio, posted a statement online several weeks saying it was dissolving itself. Presiding judge Josef Hoch said the dissolution was fake and only aimed at getting the defendants off the hook.

The prosecutors say the damage from at least 25 arson attacks between 2001 and 2007 totalled 840,000 euros (1.1 million dollars).

Friday's convictions were only for the failed attack in 2007, when guards removed firelighters from the trucks before damage was done.

Supporters claimed the arsonists were heroes of the violent struggle to overthrow "imperialism." Their lawyers refused to make closing speeches at the trial. One lawyer, Olaf Franke, alleged the judges were following "orders" from the government to convict them.

But judge Hoch said the "Groups" believed it had a "vanguard role" in a fight to overthrow the democratic German state, and had at one point considered adopting terrorist methods.

The Groups' method, setting fire to parked security vehicles using slow-burn barbecue firelighters, was copied by ordinary vandals and by people with a grudge against owners of expensive cars. In Berlin and Hamburg, more than 100 cars have burned out this year alone.(dpa)