Iraqi shoe thrower sentenced to three years in jail

March 12, 2009

The Iraqi journalist who became an icon for critics of the U.S.-led invasion when he hurled his shoes at former President George W. Bush and called him a "dog" was handed down a three year prison sentence.

Muntazer al-Zaidi, who worked for Al-Baghdadiya television, earned instant fame for his shoe-trowing antics and initially faced up to 15 years behind bars.

Bush ducked both throws, and neither man was hit.

A Baghdad court sentenced an Iraqi reporter who hurled his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush to three years in prison on Thursday, a verdict critics said was politically motivated.

"This sentence is harsh and is not in harmony with the law, and eventually the defence team will contest this in the appeals court,“ said Dhiaa al-Saadi, the head of Zaidi's defence team.

The government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who was standing next to Bush at the news conference and tried the block the second shoe, described the incident as a "barbaric act“.

Outside the courtroom, Zaidi's sister Ruqaiya burst into tears when she heard the verdict, shouting "Down with Maliki, the agent of the Americans“.

Opinion on Zaidi, a reporter with al-Baghdadiya television, was divided in Iraq, where the U.S.-led invasion unleashed years of sectarian bloodshed that has killed tens of thousands of Iraqis and displaced many more.

Some said a guest of Iraq should not be insulted, and that the incident embarrassed the country and its journalists.

But Zaidi's action against Bush has been adopted by many as an act of protest, and shoe-throwing has caught on at demonstrations around the world.

"The case is politicised and is an attempt to take revenge on Zaidi. I believe the judges were under political pressure from known factions ... the verdict is unfair,“ said Ahmed al-Masoudi, a spokesman for the anti-American Sadrist movement.

However, legal expert Tareq Harb said the verdict was "far from politicised“.