Remember the shoe incident in press conference that almost hit President George W. Bush?
He is Muntadhar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi broadcast journalist who threw both of his shoes at U. S. President George W. Bush during the press conference at the Prime Minister's Palace in Baghdad, Iraq.
On March 12, 2009, al-Zaidi was sentenced to three years of prison for assaulting a foreign leader. Under the law he was charged under, he could have faced up to 15 years in prison for assaulting a visiting head of state during an official visit.
On December 20, 2008, it was reported that the letter that al-Zaidi is said to have written to Nouri al-Maliki apologizes only to Maliki and not to George W. Bush. Al-Zaidi said he had no remorse for throwing his shoes at Bush and "added that he would repeat his actions if he sees him again, because Bush's forces have killed many of Iraq's children".
On April 7, 2009 the sentence was reduced to one year from three years. Judge Abdul Sattar al-Beeraqdar, spokesman for Iraq's Higher Judicial Council, said the court reduced al-Zaidi's sentence because he is young and had no previous criminal record. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki argued al-Zaidi could have faced 15 years in jail or even execution for insulting a visiting head of state.
From his release, al-Zaidi went to Geneva and announced that he had started creating a humanitarian agency/foundation. The aim of the agency would be to "build orphanages, a children's hospital, and medical and orthopaedic centres offering free treatment and manned by Iraqi doctors and medical staff." His lawyer said that al-Zaidi "hopes to surf on the wave of support he has gained to do some good."
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