BAGHDAD: The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President George W. Bush was beaten at the news conference after the incident and had bruises on his face and around his eyes, the judge in the case said yesterday.
Judge Dhia Al-Kinani said the court had opened an investigation in the beating of journalist Muntadar Al-Zeidi.
Al-Zeidi was wrestled to the ground after throwing his shoes during a Sunday news conference by Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki, and there had been conflicting claims on his condition since then. One of his brothers claimed he was harshly beaten, but another said he seemed to be in good condition.
Al-Zeidi “was beaten in the news conference and we will watch the tape and write an official letter asking for the names of those who assaulted him,” the judge told The Associated Press. “Al-Zeidi has the right to drop this case.”
The journalist remained in custody and was expected to eventually face charges of insulting a foreign leader. A conviction could bring a sentence of two years in prison.
Both Shiite and Sunni preachers appealed to the government to release the journalist. At Baghdad’s main Shiite mosque, Al-Kadhum, preacher Mohammed Al-Shami leading Friday prayers demanded that Al-Maliki free Al-Zeidi. “We hold them (the government) responsible for his safety,” he said.
At Baghdad’s main Sunni Abu Hanifa mosque, preacher Othman Raheem asked Al-Maliki for an explanation. “From this place we call on the prime minister and ask him, ‘Tell us why you have detained a person who committed such a heroic and fair act, a deed that all of us should have done a long time ago?”
