BELGRADE, Serbia-A Serbian court on Tuesday convicted three neo-Nazis and sentenced them to up to 25 days in prison after a clash with antifascists, in an incident that has triggered public debate about extremist groups in the country.

Nearly 60 followers of the extremist Nacionalni Stroj (National Guard) group were arrested on Sunday after they defied a ban and gathered for a protest demanding that the contested Kosovo province remain part of Serbia.

The group clashed with antifascists, who staged a counter-rally, at Novi Sad, 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Belgrade, hurling stones at them and hurting several people, before they were arrested.

Vladan Stanojevic, a Novi Sad court official, said 14 of the arrested were released, three convicted of disrupting public order while others were still being processed. Police said earlier that 11 Slovak citizens, who were among the detainees, have been deported.

Organizers of the anti-fascist gathering accused the police of failing to protect them, while liberal politicians said the government was too soft on the rightist groups.

The rally by Nacionalni Stroj was banned following an outcry by Jewish and liberal groups.

The right-wing nationalists had called for the demonstration against the secession of Kosovo, Serbia's historic province which has been a U.N. protectorate since 1999, and whose ethnic Albanian majority is seeking independence.

Novi Sad, which was the scene of a 1942 massacre of about 800 Jews and 400 Serbs by Nazi occupiers during World War II, is currently run by a right-wing mayor with nationalist policies.