Samoa's former Minister of Police, Prisons, and Fire, Ulu Vaomalo Ulu Kini, his son and another family member have been found guilty of one count of intentional damage which carries a maximum jail term of 14 years.
The trio were charged after a police inspector and a resident of Toamua village filed a complaint to police in 2014.
Our correspondent said the protest was over the defendants using an excavator to uproot the complainant's agricultural crops such as bananas and pawpaw trees.
The offence had taken place after the Lands and Titles court ruled in favour of the former Minister's ownership claim of 12 acres of customary land which the complainant lived on.
But the Supreme Court judge, who presided on the case against the defendants, ruled the ownership of the land was different from the ownership of the crops.
