MDMK chief Vaiko was on Friday convicted by a Chennai court in a sedition case filed in 2009 by the Tamil Nadu government.

He was sentenced to simple imprisonment for a year.

Judge J Shanthi held him guilty of the offence of sedition.

Vaiko, who was present in the court, said he never sought any leniency.

A petition was filed to suspend the conviction enabling an appeal against the order. Subsequently, the conviction and sentence were stayed for one month.

Police had registered a case under section 124(A) of IPC (sedition) against Vaiko for the speech he made while releasing his book "Naan Kutram Sattugiren,"(I am Making the Accusation) in 2009.