Mumbai: The father of IIT alumnus Vikram
Buddhi, who was awarded a nearly five-year jail term by a US
court for posting hate messages against former President
George W Bush, on Thursday said his son was declared guilty by an
"uninformed and helpless" jury.
"My son was declared guilty by an uninformed,
uninstructed and helpless jury. The jury had written a note to
the Judge saying there is a contradiction between the charges
against Vikram and the documents at hand," B K Subbarao told
reporters here.
The judge replied saying there is no contradiction and
refused to instruct the jury on the law, he alleged.
Subbarao further said that nowhere in the charges
levelled against Vikram, does the US government mention the
threatening e-mails.
"The charge only states that Vikram knowingly and
willfully threatened to kill the then US President George W
Bush and his family. Nowhere does it say how did Vikram
threaten," Subbarao said.
Vikram, who was pursuing his PhD from Purdue University
in the US, was convicted for sending mails threatening to kill
Bush and calling for Iraqis to take revenge from the President
for the war.
"At best one can say it is advocacy of violence and
not threatening," Subbarao said.
Leahy said the Maoists need to demonstrate that they have
abandoned the tactics that put them on the list and are
accountable, more responsible and earn trust and respect.
Their latest general strike, Leahy said, crippled Nepal's
economy for the past three days, even as the continued stir
has brough to a halt the garment industry and damaged tourism,
one of Nepal's most important sources of income for hotels,
shops, transport, restaurants, and guide services.
He said there was a risk of foreign companies deciding to
stay away from the crisis-hit country.
The Senator from Vermont also felt that Nepal needed a
new army chief who was not tainted by past abuses, but said
for the Maoists to quit the government and then accuse the
President of forcing them to do so when their demands were not
met, was irresponsible.
"Time will tell if he (the new Army Chief) is the right
person for the job," he said.
Noting that only five months remain until the deadline
for drafting a new constitution, he said, there was growing
distrust between the political parties that threatens to
derail the peace process.
He said the army was yet to reform and thousands of
Maoist ex-combatants need to be demobilised and trained for
jobs in the civilian workplace.
"Unless the political parties take decisive steps to work
together to address these issues, the situation will go from
bad to worse, and at some point the Nepali people may again
take matters into their own hands," Leahy said.
PTI
First Published: Thursday, December 24, 2009, 22:33