This Article is From Jan 25, 2011

Now, a case against Binayak Sen's wife

Now, a case against Binayak Sen's wife
Raipur: The Nagpur Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) on Monday registered a case against Human Rights activist Binayak Sen's wife, Ilina Sen, for 'misusing' an event organised by an association headed by her and seeking support for some alleged Naxal sympathisers.

The case against Ilina Sen was filed at Wardha. The Nagpur ATS have said there were many foreigners present at convention organised by Ilina but the police were not informed. They also allege the convention was being used to garner public sympathy for Binayak Sen.

The Chhattisgarh High Court will continue hearing of the petition for the suspension of sentence and grant of bail of Binayak Sen today. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on sedition charges by the Additional District and Sessions Court at Raipur last month.

One of India's most eminent criminal lawyers and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament Ram Jethmalani is representing Sen in court.

61-year-old Sen, a paediatrician by profession, was arrested in May 2007 in Bilaspur on suspicions of acting as a courier between Kolkata businessman Pijush Guha and alleged Maoist ideologue Narayan Sanyal. He was jailed for two years before the Supreme Court granted him bail in 2009.

Binayak Sen's trial has been closely followed in India and abroad and was marked by allegations that the police had planted crucial evidence and coached key witnesses.

An eight-member team of European Union (EU) arrived in Raipur on Sunday to witness Sen's bail hearing. They faced protests from lawyers and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) workers who showed EU representatives black flags and shouted slogans against them.

They alleged the 27-member body, that arrived at the airport with Ram Jethmalani, of influencing judicial process in India.

"EU representatives come as observers but try to influence judicial process in India. We will not tolerate this," a protester said.

Jethmalani refused to comment on the protests.

"The EU is interested in this case as it has been in all Human Rights cases around the world..and we had sent observers to the trial as well in 2008," said Daniele Smadja, an EU ambassador to India.

The European Union delegation include representatives of Delhi based diplomatic missions from Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Sweden and the UK. (With PTI Inputs) 
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