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Does the Punishment fit the Crime?

Author: Callas Lane

Muntazer al-Zaidi is a very popular journalist in Iraq who is best-known in America for throwing shoes at the former President of the U.S., George Bush. Al-Ziadi is seen as a hero throughout much of the Arab war for his acts, which are considered courageous. Now, Al-Zaidi is being sentenced to three years in prison for his acts against the former president, which in my opinion is ridiculous.

Zaidi was captured and tortured in 2007 and his attackers remain unidentified. He was also arrested by American troops in January 2008 and kept overnight. They searched his apartment and set him free with an apology. Many of the Iraqi people understand his actions and have supported him after this incident. In Iraq, him throwing the shoes was taken as a political statement and a form of insult. I believe that even though it was very wrong to throw the shoes at former President Bush, Zaidi’s three-year sentence is an extreme form of punishment and it sounds like tyrancy. I do believe Zaidi should be punished but it should be more like three months.

Zaidi threw the shoes at Bush as a form of expression and it was not intended to be a form of violence. Zaidi had no intentions of hurting the president and if he did he would have used something other than a shoe. Considering the past events he was involved in and the fact that many people including him are innocent victims of the war, I believe that his crime does not fit the punishment that he is being given.

I don’t believe he would have received a three-year sentence for throwing a shoe at me and it is unfair that he would get that kind of punishment just, because he happened to throw a shoe at someone who is a political figure.

Filed under: Columns, Controversial Callas!!!