Johannesburg/Amsterdam, July 17 (DPA) A court in Namibia Friday found two journalists guilty of illegally filming the country's controversial annual seal hunt.

Jim Wickens, a journalist with British investigative agency Ecostorm, and Bart Smithers, a South African cameraman, were shooting a documentary on the seal hunt for Dutch lobby group, Bont voor Dieren ('Fur for Animals') when they were arrested Thursday in Cape Cross Seal Nature Reserve. They were released later on bail.

Bont voor Dieren said prior to their arrest the journalists were attacked by a group of hunters, who beat them with the clubs they use to kill the seals.

A magistrate's court in the resort town of Swakopmund convicted the journalists of entering a marine reserve without authorisation and ordered them to pay a fine of 10,000 Namibian dollars ($1,245) or spend 12 months in prison. They opted to pay the fine.

The court did not deliberate on the attack allegations.