Source:- bbc.com<\/p>\n
A court in western India has handed life prison sentences to a disabled academic and four other people for having links to Maoist rebels waging an insurgency against the state.<\/p>\n
Professor GN Saibaba of Delhi University, who is paralysed from the waist down, was arrested three years ago but was released on bail.<\/p>\n
Maoist rebels say they are fighting for communist rule and rights for tribal people and rural poor.<\/p>\n
His family plans to appeal the verdict.<\/p>\n
A local court in Maharashtra state found Prof Saibaba and four others guilty of “criminal conspiracy and waging war against the nation” on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
In his verdict the judge said of him, “though he is physically handicapped, he is mentally fit”, adding that “the imprisonment for life is not a sufficient punishment to the accused”.<\/p>\n
Prof Saibaba had travelled to tribal areas and prominently campaigned against the activities of the Indian military and a pro-government, anti-Maoist militia.<\/p>\n
He was first arrested in 2014 and accused of being a member of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist), but denied any involvement with the outfit.<\/p>\n
“This judgment is a clear way of state impression and violation of human rights. It looks like the state is using the judgement as a landmark to silence those voices who speak against them,” AS Vasantha Kumari, Saibaba’s wife told\u00a0Hindustan Times\u00a0newspaper.<\/p>\n