Muntader al-Zaidi Released from Iraqi Prison

by Debra Sweet

Muntader al-Zaidi, who spent nine months in jail for hurling his shoes at President George W. Bush – and instantly became a hero to people throughout the world – was released from prison recently, and addressed reporters in Baghdad on Tuesday.

"Here I am free, and my country is still captured," said the journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, during a news conference Tuesday at the television station where he had worked.

He said that he was beaten with pipes and steel cables, and that he received electric shocks while in custody. He added that there were many who would like to see him dead, including members of unidentified American intelligence agencies…

"If those who blamed me knew how many destroyed houses I walked over with those shoes that I threw; and how many times those shoes mixed with the blood of the innocent … then it was probably the proper response." — Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi, upon his release from prison.