Al-Zaidi faces up to 15 years in prison for hurling shoes at Bush

Think Progress
Wednesday, Dec 17, 2008

Muntader al-Zaidi, the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush, appeared before a judge today in Baghdad and admitted to “the action he carried out.” Reuters reports that “the court decided to keep Zaidi in custody” and that after an investigation is completed, “the court may send him for trial under a clause in the Iraqi penal code that makes it an offense to attempt to murder Iraqi or foreign presidents.” Abdul Satar Birqadr, a spokesman for Iraq’s High Judicial Council said that al-Zaidi faces up to 15 years in prison.

Update: Asked today by CNN's Candy Crowley whether or not Al-Zaidi would be released, President Bush said, "I don't know what they're going to do - he's - I’m not even sure what his status is. They shouldn't overreact."