Shoe-thrower trial

[Blessed]

Shoe-thrower trial

 

 

Thursday 19 Feb, 2009

 

The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George W Bush defiantly defended his actions in court today, saying he had become emotionally overwhelmed when confronted by the ex-US president.

 

Muntazer al-Zaidi won global fame when his footwear whizzed past Bush’s head on December 14 as the then president was making a farewell visit to Iraq before leaving the White House.

 

His lawyers used the trial’s opening arguments to assert that the remarkable protest was lawful, but the judge brought proceedings to a halt 90 minutes later, saying more information was needed about Bush’s trip.

 

The 30-year-old journalist had told the court that he had become outraged and been unable to control his emotions when Bush, who ordered the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, started speaking.

 

“I saw only Bush and it was like something black in my eyes,” he said from the dock, with an Iraqi flag draped across his shoulders. “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.”

 

Zaidi gave a detailed account of the joint media conference, which was being beamed live across the world, where Bush was speaking alongside Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

 

“I came to the press conference and the US security guards asked the Iraqi journalists to go outside and they started to check us and they checked one journalist in a humiliating manner while we were on Iraqi soil,” he said.

 

“After Bush started speaking about ‘victory and achievement in Iraq’ with an icy smile... I did what I did.”

 

Zaidi, who works for the private Al-Baghdadia television channel was abducted by insurgents during the sectarian strife that engulfed Iraq after the 2003 invasion, and made plain his feelings about the occupation.

 

“We as Arabs are proud of our sense of hospitality, but Bush and his soldiers have been here for six years,” he said.

 

After his testimony, Zaidi argued that Bush’s trip to Iraq had not been an official visit. One of the three trial judges, Abdulamir Hassan al-Rubai, then said that the trial would be adjourned until March 12.

 

“We have adjourned the trial so that we can contact the prime minister’s office to find out if the visit of the ex-American president Bush was an official visit or not,” he said.

 

The reporter faces up to 15 years in prison if found guilty of assaulting a foreign leader, the charge levelled against him by. Zaidi was stony-faced throughout the hearing, dressed in a khaki-coloured jacket and a black shirt.

 

Tight security measures were in place, with cars being checked and all electronic equipment being taken off people heading into the hearing. Zaidi was asked to state his name, occupation and address and his lawyer then said that the accused had “social, political and psychological reasons” for doing what he did.