Vikram S. Buddhi (born May 10, 1971) is an Indian

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student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution, or more generally, a person who takes a special interest in a subject. In the United Kingdom and most The Commonwealth, commonwealth countries, a "student" attends ...

and

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Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

who was convicted in 2007 for making death threats online against

United States president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed For ...

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

, and

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

Dick Cheney Richard Bruce Cheney ( ; born January 30, 1941) is an American former politician and businessman who served as the 46th vice president of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush. He has been called vice presidency o ...

. He was imprisoned for 4 years and 9 months, and deported to India upon his release.

Biography

Buddhi was born to Syamala Buddhi and Captain Buddhi K Subbarao in 1971. His father was a senior

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scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

with the

Indian navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

who had been tried for

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naval A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operatio ...

secrets in 1988. He was acquitted in 1993 after the alleged leaked secrets were revealed to be his own Ph.D. thesis, a publicly available document.

Trial

Buddhi posted messages on a

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business discussion forum in December 2005 and January 2006, calling upon the people of

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

to retaliate against the Iraq

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

and kill President

, Vice President

and their spouses. Buddhi's lawyer

Somnath Bharti Somnath Bharti (born 10 May 1974) is an Indian politician and lawyer. As a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, Bharti served as a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Delhi from Malviya Nagar constituency. He has previously served as minister o ...

alleged that the

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did not mention any of the alleged charges and the

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failed to establish Buddhi as the author of the messages. Buddhi had hacked the Yahoo accounts of thousands of Purdue University Students, then used those hacked stolen IDs to spread anti-Bush and anti-war messages across Yahoo's Discussion Boards, using a

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. Buddhi was sentenced in 2007 to 4 years, 9 months in prison.

Reaction

Buddhi received support from the alumni and staff of several

IITs The Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) are a network of engineering and technology institutions in India. Established in 1950, they are under the purview of the Ministry of Education of the Indian Government and are governed by the Instit ...

, who joined with his father and lobbied for his release. He also received support from

External Affairs Minister The minister of external affairs (or simply, the external affairs minister ''Hindi:'' ''Videsh Mantri'') is the head of the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most offices in the union cabinet, the chie ...

, SM Krishna and former U.S. president

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

External links

Dr. Buddhi Kotasubbarao, "Roxana Saberi And Vikram Buddhi – Compel A Comparison", 21 April 2009, countercurrents.org

''Buddhi v. USA,'' Motion to Vacate / Correct Illegal Sentence, filed 15 April 2013, Indiana Northern District Court

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buddhi, Vikram IIT Bombay alumni Purdue University alumni 1971 births Living people People from Delhi

Biography

Trial

Reaction

See also

External links

References