Amnesty slams India for doctor's life sentence

Amnesty International has attacked the Indian judiciary for sentencing a doctor to life imprisonment on charges of helping Maoist rebels, warning the verdict could further stoke unrest.

Binayak Sen, arrested in 2007 in the state of Chhattisgarh and accused of waging war against the country, was convicted and given the life sentence by a local court on Friday.

Amnesty said it considered Sen a "prisoner of conscience" and added the jailed paediatrician had been "convicted under laws that are impermissibly vague".

"The life sentence handed down against Sen violates international fair trial standards and is likely to inflame tensions in the conflict-affected area," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty's Asia-Pacific head.

While Sen was being held in jail before his trial, 22 Nobel laureates in a letter to New Delhi had demanded the release of the doctor, who is also a rights campaigner.

"This sentence will seriously intimidate other human rights defenders who would provide a peaceful outlet for the people's grievances," Zarifi said in a statement.

During his trial, prosecutors had made the case that the doctor was helping Maoists create an urban network in insurgency-riven Chhattisgarh.

The doctor has always maintained his innocence.

Sen had been running health clinics and training health workers in impoverished Chhattisgarh.

Almost 1,000 people, including 577 civilians, died in the first 10 months of 2010 in violence linked to the Maoist revolt in India.

The pro-poor Maoist insurgency which began in 1967 has spread to 15 of India's 29 states.

Premier Manmohan Singh has labelled the rebellion the number one threat to India's internal security.

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