Iraqi Shoe Thrower Released. Says He Was Tortured in Jail

He's released, great! Maybe he can go and throw a shoe at Obama now. LOL!




NY TIMES
MARC SANTORA

BAGHDAD — Hours after his release from prison, the Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at former President George W. Bush said that he had been tortured while in jail, and his family said that he would flee Iraq, fearing for his life.

“Here I am free, and my country is still captured,” said the journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, during a news conference at the television station where he had worked.

He claimed that he was beaten with pipes and steel cables and that he received electric shocks while in custody. He added that he believed there were many who would like to see him dead, including unidentified American intelligence agencies.

Mr. Zaidi did not take questions after his brief remarks, but family members said he would travel to Greece, where he would receive medical and psychological care.

“He is going to flee,” said his brother, Uday al-Zaidi. Part of the reason he fears for his life, his brother said, is that he plans on releasing the names of people who played a role in his being tortured, including those who he said were high-ranking security officials.

Muntader al-Zaidi said that when he was arrested after hurling his shoes at Mr. Bush at a December news conference, those inside could probably still hear his screams. He said he was shackled, soaked in water and kept in a place with no heat in the cold night.

“I will name later those involved in torturing me, among them high-ranking officials in the government and the Army,” he said.

Ali al-Mosawi, an adviser to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, said that the accusations should be viewed skeptically since Mr. Zaidi had just been released from prison. He did not address the specific charges.

In a room packed with reporters and family members, Mr. Zaidi on Tuesday remained defiant, describing the anger and helplessness he experienced after the American invasion in 2003, the suffering of widows and orphans he witnessed and why he felt compelled to wage a protest.

“I saw the chance and I seized it,” he said. “If those who blamed me knew how many destroyed houses I walked over with those shoes that I threw; and how many times those shoes mixed with the blood of the innocent; and how many times those shoes went into homes where the honor of those who lived there was disgraced, then it was probably the proper response.”



Security around the television studio where Mr. Zaidi spoke shortly after his release was stepped up, with dozens of police officers and other armed escorts cordoning off much of the neighborhood. On the streets, supporters banged drums, chanted his name and slaughtered sheep in his honor. Inside the station, family members wept with joy, even though they knew that Mr. Zaidi might not be able to return to Iraq in the near future.

The Iraqi government, which was acutely embarrassed by the episode, played down Mr. Zaidi’s release, barring the family from meeting him at the gates of the prison where he was held and, instead, quietly escorting him to his family’s residence in the capital. Given Mr. Zaidi’s cult hero status, his charges that he was mistreated could resonate widely.

Mr. Zaidi, 30, was originally sentenced to three years in prison, but this spring that was reduced to a one-year jail term. He was released after nine months behind bars for good behavior, court officials said.

Mr. Zaidi was a journalist for the independent Iraqi television station, al-Baghdadiya, when he attended the news conference with Mr. Bush on the president’s final visit to Iraq during his administration.

As stunned members of the traveling White House press corps and other Iraqi journalists looked on, Mr. Zaidi rose from his seat and shouted in Arabic, “This is a gift from the Iraqis; this is the farewell kiss, you dog!”

He then whipped one of his shoes straight at Mr. Bush’s head, narrowly missing him as the former president quickly ducked.

Before anyone could react, Mr. Zaidi, only 12 feet from Mr. Bush, had his other shoe in hand and shouted once again, “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq!”

Prime Minister Maliki, standing at a lectern next to Mr. Bush, stuck a hand in front of the president’s face to help shield him, and, once again, Mr. Bush ducked and was not struck.

Mr. Zaidi was then wrestled to the ground and hustled out of the room.

On Tuesday, he said he was severely beaten by Iraqi security officers even as he could hear the news conference continue inside.

Even as his wails could be heard outside, Mr. Bush first joked that he could report that the shoe was a size ten. Then he played down the episode, saying it was a sign of democracy.


“That’s what people do in a free society, draw attention to themselves,” he said.

Mr. Zaidi described what happened over the next few hours. “At the time the prime minister went on a satellite television station, saying that he did not go to sleep until he made sure that I found a comfortable bed and a cover, at the very same moment he was talking, I was being tortured,” he said. He added that his treatment in custody included “electric shocks and being beaten by electric cables and steel rods.”

Mr. Zaidi described what happened over the next few hours. “At the time the prime minister went on a satellite television station, saying that he did not go to sleep until he made sure that I found a comfortable bed and a cover, at the very same moment he was talking, I was being tortured,” he said. He added that his treatment in custody included “electric shocks and being beaten by electric cables and steel rods.”