COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Three journalists at one of Denmark's largest dailies went on trial on Monday for publishing secret Danish reports that said there was no evidence Saddam Hussein's Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

Berlingske Tidende editor-in-chief Niels Lunde and journalists Michael Bjerre and Jesper Larsen may face fines or prison for a series of articles in 2004 based on leaked documents from the Danish Defense Intelligence Service.

Prosecutor Michael Jorgensen told the court that the punishment for publishing details of a confidential report in a newspaper should be prison.

"The court will examine the limits of freedom of information," Jorgensen told the court according to Danish news agency Ritzau, adding that the central question would be if the public right to know justified publishing the reports.

The three journalists pleaded not guilty. Former intelligence officer Frank Grevil was sentenced to four months in prison last year for the leak.

The court will meet four more times before reaching a verdict, a court official said.