Journalist who shoed Bush to go on trial February 19

BAGHDAD: The Iraqi journalist who famously threw his shoes at former US President George W. Bush is to go on trial on February 19 accused of assaulting a foreign leader, a judicial official said Sunday. Muntazer al-Zaidi won global attention when he threw his shoes at Bush during the president's farewell visit to Iraq on December 14.
"The trial will start on February 19 in the central criminal court," judicial spokesman Abdel-Sattar Beyraqdar said. "He is accused of assaulting a foreign president."
Zaidi, 30, also insulted Bush, shouting: "It is the farewell kiss, you dog," in an action that was hailed across the Arab world as an ideal parting gift to an unpopular US president, whose armed forces invaded Iraq in March 2003 based on intelligence later proven to be wrong.
The journalist, who works for Al-Baghdadia television channel, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the charge, but remains defiant about his actions, one of his brothers told AFP.
"My younger brother, Maytham, visited Muntazer four weeks ago," said Dhurgham al-Zaidi. "His health was good, his spirits are high and he refused to apologize for his actions."
The Baghdad court had the option of dismissing the charge following an earlier trial delay, or could have altered it to a lesser one of "attempted aggression" which carries a prison term of one to five years.
Iraq's central criminal court is responsible for "terrorism" cases and is located in the Green Zone, the heavily protected area of Baghdad where the government and some Western embassies are located.
Zaidi's throws during a news conference missed Bush, who ducked, but Iraqi and US security officers grappled with the journalist and hustled him off while the US president tried to joke his way out of the incident.
The incident inspired British student Alex Tew to create a "Sock and awe" (www.sockandawe.com) shoe-throwing website which says it has so far had over 85 million hits in the face of the former US president on the Internet.
Zaidi's lawyer told AFP Sunday that a defense team of 25 is preparing the case and will ask the court to drop the charges.
"Zaidi's act was not an attempt to kill Bush," argued Dhiya al-Saadi. "The shoes were not a criminal tool and it is not justice to treat his trial as if he intended to murder the US president." If the case is not thrown out, Zaidi's defense is likely to rest on the argument that the journalist only tried to insult Bush.
"The defense team will say that his act came under the terms of free expression, and was a rejection of the American military occupation and its policies for Iraq, which has led to ruin and destruction," Saadi said.
"This freedom of expression is guaranteed by national laws and international charters," he added. - AFP