SHOE THROWER HANDED OVER TO JUDICIARY
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Last updated: 4:43 pm
December 16, 2008
Posted: 3:14 pm
December 16, 2008
The journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush was handed over to the Iraqi judiciary, an Iraqi official said Tuesday, a move that signals the start of criminal proceedings.
White House: Punishment Up to Iraq
There were conflicting reports about the physical condition of Muntadhar al-Zeidi, who gained folk hero status when he hurled both his shoes at Bush during a news conference Sunday in Baghdad.
His employer, Al-Baghdadia television, reported that al-Zeidi had been “seriously injured” – presumably beaten by guards – and called on the government to allow lawyers and the Iraqi Red Crescent to visit him.
Later, one of his brothers said on Al-Baghdadia that he had spoken by telephone with al-Zeidi and that he told him “thank God, I am in good health.”
“I felt from his voice that he is good health,” brother Maitham al-Zeidi said.
After the Sunday incident, al-Zeidi was initially held by the prime minister’s guards and later turned over to the Iraqi army’s Baghdad command. The command, in turn, handed him over to the judiciary, the official said on condition of anonymity because he wasn’t supposed to release the information.
The official would not elaborate, but referring the case to the judiciary usually signals the beginning of a lengthy process that could end in a criminal trial. Cases referred to the judiciary are given to a judge who reviews the evidence and recommends whether to hold a trial or release the defendant.
Another panel then sets a trial date and appoints judges to hear the case. The process can take months.
Earlier, Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf said al-Zeidi could face charges of insulting a foreign leader and the Iraqi prime minister, who was standing next to Bush when the shoes were thrown. The offense carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail.
Many Iraqis, however, believe al-Zeidi was a hero for insulting an American president widely blamed for the chaos that has engulfed their country since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003.
In Mosul, Iraq’s third-largest city, located north of Baghdad, an estimated 1,000 protesters carried banners and chanted slogans demanding al-Zeidi’s release.
A couple of hundred more also protested Tuesday in Nasiriyah, a Shiite city about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad, and Fallujah, a Sunni area west of the capital.
In Baghdad, Noureddin al-Hiyali, a lawmaker of the main Sunni bloc in parliament, defended al-Zeidi’s actions and said he believed the reporter was likely motivated by the invasion of Iraq.
admin @ December 16, 2008