An Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush, then US president, has been given a three-year jail sentence after pleading not guilty to assaulting a foreign head of state.The sentencing of Muntadher al-Zaidi, 30, by the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad on Thursday, was announced by Al-Baghdadiya television, his employer.
The journalist, who became a hero to many Iraqis after the December 14 incident, arrived at the court under a heavy police escort.
Judge Abdulamir Hassan al-Rubaie said he had taken into consideration that al-Zaidi is young and it was his first offence, the defence lawyers said.There was standing room only at the courtroom on the edge of Baghdad's Green Zone as some 200 family members, reporters and lawyers crowded in.
Al-Rubaie later cleared the court before returning his verdict.
Asked if he was innocent, al-Zaidi responded: "Yes, my reaction was natural, just like any Iraqi would have done."
Courtesy: Al Jazeera
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