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| Iraq |
| Shoe-tossing reporter could face seven year jail term, says brother |
| 2008-12-19 |
| (AKI) - Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi who was filmed throwing his shoes at US President George W. Bush could face up to seven years in prison, his brother said on Wednesday. Udai al-Zaidi, brother of the journalist from al-Baghdadiya, said Muntazer faced a jail sentence of between two and seven years for charges that may include attempted murder. Muntazer al-Zaidi appeared in court on Tuesday and confessed to the attack on the president. " My brother Montazer al-Zaidi has been brought before a judge for preliminary investigations, and risks from two to seven years in prison, " his brother told Arab TV network Al-Jazeera. "The government has assigned him a government lawyer that we do not recognise. We are worried because he has been taken to a secret location inside the Green Zone in Baghdad and we do not know where he is." The journalist generated headlines around the world and provoked a Baghdad street protest after throwing his footwear at the president during his media conference in Iraq on Sunday. "Al-Zaidi was brought today before the investigating judge in the presence of a defence lawyer and a prosecutor," said Abdul Satar Birqadr, a spokesman for Iraq's High Judicial Council on Tuesday. "He admits the action he carried out." The journalist has become a hero to millions of Arabs but he has reportedly been nursing a broken arm and ribs as well as cuts to his face while in detention, according to his brother. On Tuesday, thousands of Iraqis took part in a second day of street protests today demanding al-Zaidi's release. In Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, north of Baghdad, around 1,000 protesters reportedly carried banners and chanted slogans in his support. The head of the Iraqi Union of Journalists described al-Zaidi's action as "strange and unprofessional" but urged Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to give him clemency. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 They're gonna take him out to some dump warehouse on the south side at 2am to pick up some weapons he and his fellow miscreants have stashed there. Hope there's no trouble... |
| Posted by: mojo 2008-12-19 15:11 |
| #1 "We are worried because he has been taken to a secret location inside the Green Zone in Baghdad and we do not know where he is." Sounds like a perfect set up line for a little RAB action. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2008-12-19 13:43 |