Muntazer al-Zaidi May Be Tried For Attempted Murder of a President

[tekisui]

Source: Al Jazeera

(snip)

Al-Zaidi has admitted "aggression against a president" during an appearance before a judge, a judicial spokesman said on Tuesday.

"Al-Zaidi was brought today before the investigating judge in the presence of a defence lawyer and a prosecutor," Abdul Satar Birqadr, a spokesman for Iraq's High Judicial Council, said.

"He admits the action he carried out."

The referral of the case to the Iraqi judiciary is usually the first stage of review proceedings that could lead to a criminal trial being held.

Al-Zaidi will remain in custody until the judge has completed his investigation, Birqadr said.

The court may send him for trial under a clause in the Iraqi penal code that makes it an offence to try to murder Iraqi or foreign presidents.

The sentence could be up to 15 years jail, Birqadr said.

more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2008/12/2008121618330140949.html

[Subdivisions]

1. That is ridiculous! Charge him with simple assault, fine him, and let him go! n/t

[Laelth]

12. Agreed. n/t

:dem:

-Laelth

[Donnachaidh]

2. this just shows how much this puppet regime is out of touch --

Go ahead assholes. Ramp it up. You'll have a TRUE civil war on your hands. un-fucking-believable.

[Renew Deal]

4. This could end up making him some sort of hero.

That's a significant danger, but I never expected him to get off.

[tekisui]

5. No, he knew what he was doing.

I am sure he expected jail time or worse for his actions.

I just wonder how it will be received by the Iraqi people and the Muslim world who see him as a hero that deserves release.

[Renew Deal]

3. That's no surprise.

He's lucky it's not life (or death).

[MineralMan]

7. Oh, yeah...people are murdered with thrown shoes all the time...

It's a common theme on Law and Order, I'm certain. :sarcasm:

[Renew Deal]

I should put it a different way.

It's not unexpected.

[MineralMan]

11. I agree. My sarcasm wasn't directed at you...

I'm not at all surprised that the Iraqi's are taking this far too seriously. It's in the nature of what goes on there. Our failure to understand the culture is responsible, in large part, for our failure to succeed in whatever our goal might have been there.

[Morning Dew]

14. It is. Tuesday nights - L&O - Shoe Victims Unit.

nm

[LeftyMom]

6. Shy of stuffing it down their throat, how to you murder somebody with a shoe?

:eyes:

[gravity]

13. Haven't you ever seen Austin Powers?

[LeftyMom]

15. So this guy's the Iraqi Random Task?

:rofl:

[Sultana]

8. BULLSHIT!

Something tells me that Cheney is involved.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

9. How many DUers will continue to think this shoe thing is funny if this is true?

What a laugh riot it is. :(

[MineralMan]

10. I expected at least this...

He could have gotten beaten to death. This is not the USA...it's Iraq. Things aren't the same.

While the image of Bush ducking a pair of shoes was funny, I was worried about the thrower from the start. Not a lot of humor in Iraq's judicial system.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

16. The very first thing I thought was "that poor man". nt

[Edweird]

17. Fine. Let's see him tried before a jury of his peers. He'll walk.

Really. A jury filled with survivors whose friends and family have all suffered tremendously because of * is a guaranteed 'not guilty'.