Two found guilty of attacking Nobelist at Patra University in 2011

Two men who disrupted a lecture by Nobelist James Watson at the University of Patra in April 2011 were convicted on Wednesday.

One was handed a 13-month jail sentence, suspended for three years, after being found guilty of using an illegal weapon and causing bodily harm. The other received a three-month term, also suspended for three years, for illegal use of violence.

Watson, one of the scientists who discovered the structure of DNA, was delivering a lecture on “Discovering the Double Helix of DNA” when protesters burst into the theater and accused him of being a racist. Watson has made controversial comments in the past regarding genetics. He was not hurt in the incident.