Judge: Iraqi Shoe-Tosser Appears Beaten

Investigating Judge Says Detained Reporter Has Bruised Face, Confirms Pardon Request

(CBS/AP)  The investigating judge in the case of the Iraqi journalist who threw shoes at President Bush says the man shows signs of being beaten.

Judge Dhia al-Kinani said Friday that the journalist had bruises on his face and around his eyes.

The journalist, Muntader al-Zeidi, was wrestled to the ground after throwing the shoes during a Sunday news conference with Mr. Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

CBS News Baghdad producer Randall Joyce says al-Zeidi has been kept completely out of the reach of his legal representation and his family since the show-throwing incident late on Sunday - a fact which typifies a deeply flawed Iraqi justice system.

The judge said Friday the journalist has not raised a formal charge relating to his injuries. He also confirmed that al-Zeidi had written a letter to al-Maliki requesting a pardon.

One of al-Maliki's spokesmen said Thursday that al-Zeidi had begged for a pardon for what he described as "an ugly act" in the letter, first reported by Joyce in a story for CBSNews.com's World Watch.

Al-Zeidi, a correspondent for an Iraqi-owned television station based in Cairo, Egypt, could face imprisonment for either insulting, or assaulting a foreign leader. He remained in custody Friday.

"It is too late to reverse the big and ugly act that I perpetrated," al-Zeidi wrote in the letter delivered to al-Maliki, according to the prime minister's spokesman.

The spokesman, Yassin Majid, told The Associated Press that al-Zeidi went on in the letter to recall an interview he conducted with the prime minister in 2005 when al-Maliki invited him into his home, saying: "Come in, it is your home too."

"So I ask for your pardon, Excellency," Majid quoted the letter as saying.

However, the journalist's brother, Dhargham al-Zeidi, told the AP he was skeptical that his brother would write such a letter.

"I am suspicious that my brother wrote that letter to al-Maliki because I know my brother very well," he said.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Thursday that she'd seen reports that al-Zeidi had apologized but that she did not know whether Mr. Bush was aware of them.

"The president harbors no hard feelings about it, and the Iraqis have a process that they'll follow," Perino said. "But he did urge them not to overreact, because he was not bothered by the incident, although it's not appropriate for people to throw shoes at a press conference, at any leader."

Perino suffered a bruised eye in the melee that followed the attack.

"What happened to me was just an accident in the melee. It's not - I'm not bothered by it. It's not all that pretty," she said referring to her bruise, "but I'm not worried about it."

Joyce reported that the law being used to prosecute al-Zeidi, and his possible sentence, are still unclear - as all the deliberations are taking place behind closed doors.

Prosecutors have discussed trying him under a law, which dates back many years, that makes it illegal to assault a foreign leader in Iraq. That law could carry as much as a 15 year prison sentence, though legal analysts say that, because neither shoe actually hit Mr. Bush, that could be reduced to seven.

Here's a closer look at that law from Joyce in another World Watch entry.

The AP reported, however, that al-Zeidi could be charged with insulting a foreign leader, as opposed to assaulting one - a lesser crime that carries a possible two-year prison sentence.

The case has riveted Iraq, with many in the country, and the wider Muslim world, considering him a hero for defying a president they blame for destroying the country.

A shouting match Wednesday between parliament members for and against al-Zeidi prompted the speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, to announce he was resigning.

Al-Mashhadani showed up at parliament on Thursday to resume his speaker duties. But so many lawmakers boycotted in protest of al-Mashhadani's outburst that the session was canceled.

Al-Zeidi's action was broadcast repeatedly on television stations worldwide. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack suggested that incident was overblown.

"We would hope that the fact of a U.S. president standing next to a freely elected prime minister of Iraq who just happens to be Shia, who is governing in a multi-confessional, multiethnic democracy in the heart of the Middle East, is not overshadowed by one incident like this," McCormack told reporters in Washington.

McCormack said he believed that in the coming years, "the fact of the president making that visit under those circumstances will probably overshadow any memory of this particular gentleman and what he did."

According to Iraq's constitution, President Jalal Talabani can issue a pardon if recommended by the prime minister, except under certain offenses including international crimes. That would enable the government to put an end to the affair without risking a backlash from al-Zeidi's admirers.

Such pardons are ordinarily issued only after someone has been convicted. An investigating judge is studying whether there is enough evidence for a trial.

Al-Maliki was standing next to Mr. Bush when the journalist threw his shoes and shouted at the American leader in Arabic, "This is your farewell kiss, you dog! This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq."



Al-Zeidi was tackled by Iraqi and U.S. security after throwing his shoes at Mr. Bush, who deftly ducked.

A judge visited al-Zeidi in his jail cell this week and the family was told to return to court next week, according to Dhargham al-Zeidi.

Dhargham al-Zeidi claims his brother was severely beaten after being taken into custody. However, Iraqi officials and another brother deny the journalist suffered severe injuries.

[niceface19]

The world now have one common holiday called. THE SHOE DAY.
free this man now.

[niceface19]

I''m sure this photo was taken before the incident, he probably don''t have any thing left on his face now

[karenlewis3]

All Iraqis need to be beat. www.theseriouspolice.com

[boandco]

There are hundreds of millions of people all over the world that applaud what this brave man did. Muntadar al-Zeidi has our respect and admiration.

[intheshade-2009]

The International Red Cross must be allowed to visit Muntadar al-Zeidi. The United States and their surrogates have been getting away with murder in Iraq.

[karenlewis3]

The shoes are now on auction www.theseriouspolice.com

[mydiatribe]

Sadly the Iraqi Security who extracted the shoe thrower from the press room cut off his feet so he would have no further need for shoes. Despite President Bush''s pleas for mercy they then proceeded to beat the cr aap out of this poor fellow.

When he appeared in court his lawyer said the reporter didn''t have a leg to stand on. LOL!

[ramos937]

It is a good beat that the beaters were Iraqs. If so, they had best leave the country immediately. Once their names become public, and they will, these guys can only look forward to a long slow death.

[hotpaulie]

hillaryin016 - Why would Obama visit Iraq?

It was Bush''s war.

[usadvisor101]

Just shoot the guy and get it over with.

I wonder if Obama will visit Iraq after the US leaves?

Posted by hillaryin016 at 12:02 PM : Dec 20, 2008

we dont you fly over there, and do the job yourself.

go confront the guy about it, instead of telling others to do your dirty work.

[usadvisor101]

The case has riveted Iraq, with many in the country, and the wider Muslim world, considering him a hero for defying a president they blame for destroying the country.


yes, like others here stated.......... this guy now is a hero here and abroad, although what he did was wrong and he will pay the price......... but think about how popular he has become !!!

what does that tell you about bush and his evil liars like wolofowitz?

maybe when obama gets into office, we could get a nation wide campaign started to have the morons that ruined america(bush,cheney,wolfowitz,rummy, and the other brainless idiots taht never studied iraqi history or culture) deported to saudi arabia or israel, where these mutants belong. only bush would pick a slimey snake with dual citizenship(wolfowitz-the israeli lobbyist) take over our pentagon !!!!!

[tommygun083]

AnitaY417, You imply that I use marijuana. I don%u2019t know where you get that from, it is the US military that is protecting and cultivating the drug traffic in Afghanistan. Ollie North lives on. That is another crime we will have to prosecute you for.

[cariboubarbi]

The fact that the Iraqi shoe thrower has become a national and international hero is hilarious!


lol!

[boandco]

I like your idea slownewsdaze. We should take AnitaY417 and all those war lovers and put them on Diego Garcia. Let them march around, pin medals on each other, shoot their guns and torture and kill each other if they want to, and let the rest of us live in peace. They could grow their own crops and be self-sufficient so that would do not have to take care of them anymore, and we could get our economy back in order.

[intheshade-2009]

AnitaY417 is an example of the brainless Bush followers that got us in this mess. The people of Iraq do not deserve any punishment from the US. You are using the great power and prestige of our great nation to satisfy your own sadistic pleasures on these poor people. We will do everything in our power to see that you are prosecuted for your crimes.

[oleander8]

Let the guy go - the world had a good laugh, and Bush himself is blowing it off. No one was hurt except the shoe-thrower.

[tommygun083]

AnitaY417 Your kind have murdered over a million innocent women, children, and men who''s only sin is to live in a country that owned oil, and not have the military to protect it. You had no justification to invade Iraq and no justification to stay there. The whole pretence for your invasion was a fraud, and yet you stay on. Get out of Iraq and quit disgracing our country.

[mrmeatspin]

what most liberal morons do not understand is..without bush..this fu(ker would not have the right to throw ''not even a bad glance'' at any politician..

this is bad journalism..

when the liberal media continues to fish in the sewers eventually they will ''catch'' what they are looking for
.........*and then they cry freedom of speech and expression*

[mrmeatspin]

Bush probably ordered the shoe thrower beaten and tortured.





Posted by CaribouBarbi at 10:27 AM : Dec 20, 2008
+ report abuse

********

bush does not have to be involved..muslims have the ''beaten and torture'' business cornered for eons..

lucky he is still alive..normally his body would had been ''discovered'' in some dusty road outside of town..

[cariboubarbi]

Bush probably ordered the shoe thrower beaten and tortured.