Congress joins chorus as protest against Sen's conviction grows louder

The ruling Congress party at the centre also joined the call for a review of the conviction and award of life imprisonment to human rights activist Binayak Sen even as the chorus of protest by civil rights groups in India and outside grew louder.

Senior leader Digvijay Singh has demanded a review of the trial court judgement awarding life imprisonment for Sen on charges of sedition.

The sessions court at Raipur on Friday sentenced physician and human rights activist Binayak Sen and three others to life imprisonment on charges of "sedition and waging war against the state" and supporting the Maoist cause and acting as their courier.

"He is an extremely fine human being and I don't know the fact about the case. But to charge him for a sedition case which (the law) has been amended in 1962... needs a judicial review," said Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh.

Civil rights groups in the US also have called on the Indian government to set the doctor and human rights activist, now languishing in a jail, free.

Sen, who visited jailed Maoist leader Narayan Sanyal several times in the presence of officials, was later found guilty of carrying messages and setting up bank accounts for Maoist rebels in Chhattishgarh.