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<font size=3>Iraq 'shoe-thrower' sentenced <br>
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/03/200931292357426936.html" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/03/200931292357426936.html<br>
<br>
</a>An Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush, then US
president, has been given a three-year jail sentence after pleading not
guilty to assaulting a foreign head of state.<br><br>
The sentencing of Muntadher al-Zaidi, 30, by the Central Criminal Court
in Baghdad on Thursday, was announced by Al-Baghdadiya television, his
employer.<br><br>
The journalist, who became a hero to many Iraqis after the December 14
incident, arrived at the court under a heavy police escort.<br><br>
Judge Abdulamir Hassan al-Rubaie said he had taken into consideration
that al-Zaidi is young and it was his first offence, the defence lawyers
said.<br><br>
<b>Packed courtroom<br><br>
</b>There was standing room only at the courtroom on the edge of
Baghdad's Green Zone as some 200 family members, reporters and lawyers
crowded in.<br><br>
Al-Rubaie later cleared the court before returning his verdict.<br><br>
Asked if he was innocent, al-Zaidi responded: "Yes, my reaction was
natural, just like any Iraqi (would have done)."<br><br>
Bush was speaking on December 14 at a joint news conference in Baghdad
with Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, when al-Zaidi hurled his
shoes at him.<br><br>
The shoes narrowly missed Bush, who later brushed the incident
aside.<br><br>
As well as throwing the shoe, al-Zaidi shouted "It is the farewell
kiss, you dog", before security forces wrestled him to the
ground.<br><br>
He later said he had been beaten and tortured in custody.<br><br>
Shoe-hurling is considered an especially grave insult in the Arab and
Muslim world and al-Zaidi had risked up to 15 years in jail on the charge
of aggression against a foreign head of state.<br><br>
<b>'Prisoner of war'<br><br>
</b>After the verdict on Thursday, al-Zaidi's 25-strong defence team
emerged from the courtroom to scenes of chaos. Several family
members screamed: "It's an American court ... sons of
dogs."<br><br>
One of his brothers, Uday, said the decision was political.<br><br>
"This is a political court. Muntadhar is being treated like a
prisoner of war. He is not a normal prisoner ... This decision has been
taken by the prime minister's office."<br><br>
Al-Zaidi shouted "Iraq, long live Iraq" after the verdict was
read out, Yahia Attabi, a defence lawyer, said.<br><br>
"We expected the decision because under the Iraqi criminal code he
was charged with assaulting a foreign leader on an official
visit."<br><br>
<b>Appeal planned<br><br>
</b>Attabi said al-Zaidi will appeal the decision.<br><br>
The family said they would not only appeal but also press ahead with
plans to bring torture charges against Bush, al-Maliki and his bodyguards
at a human rights court abroad.<br><br>
Ehiya al-Sadi, the chief defence lawyer, had argued that his client's
motives were "honourable".<br><br>
"He was only expressing his feelings. What he could see was the
blood of Iraqis at his feet when he watched the US president speaking
about his achievements in Iraq."<br><br>
Al-Sadi also argued that although Iraqi law considered it an attack on a
visiting head of state, "[al-Zaidi's] throwing of the shoe did not
cause any injury or damage ... His goal was to insult Bush for the pain
Iraqis have suffered".<br><br>
<b>Al-Zaidi's account<br><br>
</b>The trial opened on February 19 but was adjourned to determine the
nature of Bush's December visit.<br><br>
Al-Zaidi told the court last month that he had been outraged and was
unable to control his emotions when Bush started speaking to the
media.<br><br>
"I had the feeling that the blood of innocent people was dropping on
my feet during the time that he was smiling and coming to say bye-bye to
Iraq with a dinner.<br><br>
"So I took the first shoe and threw it but it did not hit him. Then
spontaneously I took the second shoe but it did not hit him either.
I was not trying to kill the commander of the occupation forces of
Iraq."<br><br>
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