BAGHDAD: Iraq s highest court reduced the prison sentence Tuesday for an Iraqi journalist who hurled his shoes at former President George W. Bush from three years to one, a court spokesman said. Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar, the spokesman, said the decision was taken because the journalist had no prior criminal history. The Federal Appeals Court ruled on the defense s appeal, which cited an Iraqi law stipulating a maximum sentence of two years for publicly insulting a visiting foreign leader. The decision came as Barack Obama made his first official visit to Iraq as US president. Muntazar Al-Zeidi was sentenced to three years in March after pleading not guilty to a charge of assaulting a foreign leader. He described his action as a natural response to the occupation. The journalist s act during Bush s last visit to Iraq as president turned the 30-year-old reporter into a folk hero across the Arab world, where the former US president is reviled for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Defense attorneys have long argued that Al-Zeidi s act was an expression of freedom and not a crime. But Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has had little sympathy for the journalist, saying the incident was more than just an insult. He described it as an assault on a visiting head of state. Karim Al-Shujairi, one of Al-Zeidi s attorneys, said the appeal was filed about a week ago. We welcome this fair decision that shows the independence and the integrity of the Iraqi judiciary system, said another Al-Zeidi s attorney, Yahya Al-Ittabi. Al-Zeidi has been in Iraqi custody since he hurled shoes at Bush during a joint news conference with Al-Maliki in December 2008. He is expected to be released in December 2009, said Al-Ittabi. The news came as a surprise to Al-Zeidi s family, who called it a victory for the Iraqi people. We did not expect that my brother would be released before the three years, Al-Zeidi s brother, Dargham, told the Associated Press.
