Ankara - Four men who kidnapped an Assyrian-Christian priest in south-east Turkey last year were sentenced to 15 years imprisonment on Tuesday by a court in the city of Diyarbakir, the Turkish state-owned Anadolu news agency reported.

Father Daniel Savci (56) was taken hostage in November 2007 by the four men who stopped his car as he was travelling to the Mor Yakup Monastery, in a village near the town of Midyat in south-eastern Turkey's Mardin province.

In evidence read to the court, Savci said that he had been handcuffed and a hood was placed over his head when he was kidnapped.

The kidnappers had at first demanded a ransom of 300,000 (382,130 dollars) euros for the return of the priest saying that he would be murdered if the ransom was not paid. He was released three days after being taken hostage.

The kidnappers were arrested on December 4 last year, four days after the priest was released. It is not known why the kidnappers released Savci unharmed.

After years of emigration, especially in recent years due to fighting between Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels, there are estimated to only be a few thousand Assyrian Christians still living in eastern Turkey. (dpa)