Sentence Reduced For Iraqi Shoe Thrower
An Iraqi court has reduced the prison sentence for an Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at former President George W. Bush from three years to one.
Court spokesman Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar said Tuesday's decision was made because the journalist had no prior criminal history.
Muntadhar al-Zeidi was sentenced to three years in March after a quick trial. Al-Zeidi had pleaded not guilty to a charge of assaulting a foreign leader and said his action was a "natural response to the occupation."
The journalist's act during Bush's last visit to Iraq as president turned the 30-year-old reporter into a folk hero across the Arab world, where the former U.S. president is reviled for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Al-Zeidi faced up to 15 years.
News of the reduction in sentence comes the same day an angry journalist threw a shoe at India's top security official during a press conference in New Delhi.
The footwear was thrown following a confrontational exchange about the 1984 anti-Sikh riots that left thousands dead.
The shoe missed Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram, who continued taking questions on Tuesday as officials escorted the journalist from the room.
"Please take him away," said Chidambaram, who added, "gently."
Jarnail Singh, a veteran reporter with one of India's largest newspapers, the Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, was taken into police custody, but released after questioning, said police spokesman.
Before throwing the shoe, Singh, a Sikh, asked Chidambaram several questions about the Central Bureau of Investigation's findings last week that cleared a senior Congress party leader, Jagdish Tytler, from any involvement in the bloody riots that left 3,000 dead.
Chidambaram said CBI was an independent body and that the government played no role in the decision, and called for the public to be patient.
Singh, dressed in an olive-green shirt and a white turban, then threw his blue and white sneaker at Chidambaram, narrowly missing his face.
Later, Singh told TV news reporters that he regretted throwing the shoe, but he felt Chidambaram was dodging the question.
Singh did not say whether he was inspired by Muntadhar al-Zeidi.
The 1984 riots, which remain a very controversial issue in India, left more than 3,000 dead, most of whom were Sikhs. The carnage erupted across India after former prime minister Indira Gandhi's Sikh bodyguards shot her to death.
Many blame Congress party officials for turning a blind eye or even supporting the rioters in the violence that ensued after their leader was slain.
On Tuesday, hundreds of Sikhs held protests over the CBI's findings in front of the home of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, the daughter-in-law of Indira Gandhi.