Thursday, March 12, 2009

3 years for shoe thrower

The Iraqi journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi who famously threw his shoes at George Bush has been jailed for three years as a result. Apparently he could have been jailed for 15 years for the crime of hitting someone with his shoes. Harsh! Seriously, what does putting him in jail for 3 years achieve? It's not likely that he will re-offend, how often does a repeat offender get the opportunity to throw their shoes at George Bush? It's more likely to generate sympathy for him and inspire others to use shoes as symbolic protests. Finally I'm sure the prison space he will fill would be far better used housing a terrorist or insurgent. I wonder if the Americans will lobby to get him released.

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