Justice for Vikram Buddhi NOW!!!
Delhi action against the illegal jail of Indian student in USA
Venue: IIT Flyover, South Delhi
Date: Wednesday, 7th October, 2009
Time: 5 pm sharp!
(Bring your candles for candle light vigil - standing on the flyover)
Dear Friends,
We invite you to join concerned citizens, faculty, alumni & students of IIT and Dr. B K Subba Rao in demanding justice to Vikram Budhi, the Indian scholar who is undergoing jail term in US against all principles of natural justice and rule of law.
The campaign for 'Justice to Vikram Buddhi' has been going on in India for the past some months (http://justiceforvb.blogspot.com OR www.nyay.org). As many of you already know through the media, Vikram Budhi (a PhD Student & reader at Purdue University, USA and former student and silver medallist from IIT Mumbai) has been undergoing extra-legal jail term for the past 3 years, in US for the non-proven charges of threatening to kill American president (then Prez Bush), family and threatening to bomb the infrastructure of the US of A!!! During the trial, he was denied any kind of justice or fair trial to the extent that the jury was not even instructed by the Judge about the law applicable to the case and the Defence Attorney was threatened with public embarrassment, if he tried to link, for the jury, applicable law with the available evidence, which is based on nothing but an internet message, whose authorship has not been proven till date.
Vikram's father B K Subba Rao (a senior lawyer, columnist, a former IIT student, a scientist and ex-Navy officer), who was in USA to help his son in the legal battle has been thrown out of USA, as they realised his potential to challenge their very judicial system. Dr. Subba Rao will join others in the Delhi action on 7th evening.
The mighty American state's justice system stands exposed and torn apart through the Vikram Buddhi case and it is our earnest appeal to you to kindly join this protest against the American administration and also the Indian Government which has so far refused to act in any way to provide basic support to a Non-Resident Indian, who has been falsely accused and prosecuted in foreign land (a basic right of any citizen of any country)..
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Regards,
Adv. Somnath Bharti, Dr. Vijay R Chariar, Vijayan MJ & others
FREE VIKRAM BUDDHI
CASE BACKGROUND ON VIKRAM BUDDHI:
-Vikram Buddhi (Silver medalist, IIT-Bombay) was a graduate student studying at Purdue University, Indiana, US. He was pursuing a PhD in both pure and applied mathematics.
-In January, 2006, he was accused of posting messages to internet chat boards threatening the lives of the then-President of the US, George W. Bush and others. The messages urged the Iraqi people to avenge the deaths of innocent people in Iraq.
-Vikram was picked up for interrogation on January 16, 2006 and released two days later by the U.S. Secret Service. They completely exonerated him of any guilt, and even went so far as to prepare a report, dated February 6, 2006 stating clearly that he was not a threat in any way to Secret Service protectees.
-On April 14, 2006, he was mysteriously picked up again and jailed. The case went to trial, and a guilty verdict was returned on June 25, 2007 on eleven counts - threats to the life of George W. Bush, Laura Bush, Dick Cheney, Lynn Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld as well as threats to US installations.
-Due to a hostile judge, the jury was not allowed to be briefed on details of the case, such as the fact that these were internet postings directed to Iraqis and the lack of evidence linking Buddhi to the messages. The Purdue computer system, from which these messages were posted, have had a history of being hacked. The judge went so far as threatening the defense attorney with embarassment for putting the facts of the case in front of the jury.
-Vikram is still in jail in Chicago, where he teaches mathematics to convicts. No sentence has been pronounced; and thus, no appeal could be filed. The sentencing was to be pronounced at the end of August, 2009. These charges could invite a maximum sentence of 35 years.
-The Indian Government meanwhile, has not responded to numerous requests for help from his family. The embassy has not come forward with any assistance, something that is hard to imagine that the US Embassy in India would fail to offer to its citizens here.
HARASSMENT OF HIS FATHER, DR. BK SUBBARAO:
-Dr. Buddhi Kota Subbarao (Former Indian Navy Captain, PhD in nuclear technology from IIT-Bombay) went to the US on an emergency visa on June 25, 2006, as per the legal requirement. On April 19, 2006, the magistrate had stipulated that Vikram would be released on bail in the presence of a family member, who could serve as a guarantor. The trial was deflected to June 26, 2007 at which point Dr. Subbarao applied for an extension for his US visa. This was denied (and the appeals process is ongoing) and he was put under pressure to voluntarily leave the US.
-Dr. Subbarao was not allowed to attend the trial for which he has been living in Lafayette, Indiana and forgoing all income. The reason given by the judge, at the very last minute, was that he had been selected as one of three government witnesses.
-In August 2007, Dr. Subbarao's passport was confiscated. He was told it would be returned to him if he voluntarily left the country, although that would mean that he could not return to the US for ten years. He was held in three different jails and released after three days. At another occasion, he was jailed for seven days and subjected to humiliating treatment, including being paraded around in chains through the Purdue campus.
BACKGROUND ON VIKRAM BUDDHI
-Vikram was a National Science Talent Scholar during his student days in India. He graduated in mathematics with M.Sc degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, stood first in the class and received silver medal from IIT. Thereafter he worked for a year at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bombay and then joined the mathematics department of Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana in the year 1996. At Purdue he received MS degree in mathematics and thereafter has been pursuing Ph.D degrees simultaneously in pure and applied mathematics. At Purdue he received two times Best Teaching Award from the Department of Mathematics.
-In 2005, he led a campaign against racism in Purdue after the punishment of an African-American student for cheating at an examination, a charge for which three non-African-Americans were released.
-Vikram's father, Dr. Buddhi is a former Indian Navy Captain with Ph.D from Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, in nuclear technology. He is also an advocate of Supreme Court of India, having degree in law from Bombay University. He has represented successfully in public interest matters before Bombay High Court taken up by the social organization ‘Citizens For A Just Society’ founded by Dr. Usha Mehta, noted Gandhian, Freedom Fighter and Padma Vibhushan, during her life time and also subsequently.
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