Iraq shoe thrower trial postponed

Thursday, January 8, 2009 at 12:54 pm

Iraq shoe thrower trial postponed The trial of the Iraqi man who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush earlier this month has been postponed. Muntadar al-Zaidi, 29, was expected to appear in court on Wednesday charged with assaulting a foreign leader, and faced a maximum sentence of 15 years. But after an appeal, a higher court is now deciding whether he should face the lesser charge of insulting a leader. The reporter achieved global notoriety by his actions, which were celebrated by thousands in the Arab world. A spokesman for Iraq’s Central Criminal Court said the decision to postpone the trial was made following an appeal by Mr Zaidi’s lawyers.

A new trial date would be set later, Abdel Sattar Beyraqdar told the AFP news agency.

The lesser charge would incur a maximum sentence of two years.

‘No danger’

Lawyers for Mr Zaidi said their appeal was based on the fact that he had simply been expressing his opposition to the US presence in Iraq and that Mr Bush had never been in serious danger.

“Have you ever heard of anyone being killed by a shoe?” lawyer Dhiaa al-Saadi told Reuters.

“In Europe, they throw eggs and rotten tomatoes to insult. In Iraq, throwing a shoe is a symbol of disrespect.”