Chicago:
After he was sentenced to five years in jail late last week, Vikram Buddhi has spoken to NDTV's Sarah Jacob at the Chicago prison where he has spent the last three years.
Buddhi, whose face fell when he heard his sentence pronounced, said, "Yes, I was disappointed. I did not expect the judge to give me such a harsh sentence. Anyway, it is ok. I only have to serve another 15 months."
Buddhi was a student of Purdue University in 2006 when he was arrested for allegedly posting hate messages on the Internet, which were seen as a threat to US President George W Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Reacting to the judgment, Buddhi had told NDTV: "This is a grave miscarriage of justice. I'm not the kind of person the US government is portraying me to be. Every person has a right to have an opinion. I got the short end of the stick in this case."
Buddhi has already announced that he will appeal against his sentence. But it could take upto 12 months for a different court to start hearing that appeal. Buddhi says, "I have filed my appeal because I want to reverse my conviction. I am innocent and want to clear my name."
Last week, before a court found him guilty, Buddhi fired his lawyer who, he says, showed no interest in meeting him or sharing his strategy for Buddhi's defence. The IIT graduate then went on to defend himself. He has taught himself law by studying the material available to him in a poorly-stocked prison library.
Vikram's lawyer in India is trying to organize a US law firm to take up the case pro-bono.