The founder and general secretary of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Vaiko, was convicted by a special court in Chennai on Friday over a sedition case and sentenced to a year in prison.
The sedition case was filed by the Tamil Nadu government in 2009. Vaiko had given a seditious speech during his book launch event at Raja Annamalai Mandram in Chennai. He had spoken in support of militant group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). His speech had sparked many controversies as it was during the time of the Sri Lankan civil war.
In his 2009 speech, while releasing his book 'Naan Kutram Sattugiren' (I am making the accusation), Vaiko had warned that if India wants to remain as a single and unified country, the war against the Tamil Tigers must be stopped in Sri Lanka.
A case was registered against Vaiko at the Thousand Lights police station in Chennai under sections 124-A (sedition) and 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
However, no major development happened over the incident until 2017 when Vaiko was arrested and sent to Puzhal Central Prison. He was granted bail after a month.
