Criticism is growing in India over a sentence of life in prison imposed on a well known human rights activist, Dr Binayak Sen.
Dr Sen, 60, was found guilty of carrying messages and setting up bank accounts for Maoist rebels who control a large area of central and eastern India.
He was sentenced on Friday. Prosecutor T C Pandya said he and two others were convicted for sedition and conspiracy against the state.
They can appeal the verdict in a higher court. Dr Sen was granted bail by the Supreme Court last year.
He was arrested three years ago in the state of Chhattisgarh - the hub of the insurgency.
The BBC reports his supporters and Amnesty International say both the trial and the sentence were unfair.
Dr Sen won international fame for running health clinics for villagers in tribal regions.
In 2008, the Global Health Council named him as the winner of the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights.
Afterwards, 22 Nobel prize-winning scientists appealed to the Indian government to release him and let him travel to the United States to collect the award.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the rebellion, which has lasted four-decades, as the biggest threat to India's internal security.
