An Iraqi journalist jailed after hurling his shoes at the former U.S. President, George W. Bush, will be released next month after his sentence was reduced for good behaviour, his lawyer said on Saturday.
Muntadhar Al-Zeidi’s act during Mr. Bush’s last visit to Iraq as President turned the 30-year-old reporter into a folk hero across the Arab world amid anger over the 2003 invasion.
He has been in custody since the December 14 outburst, which occurred as Mr. Bush was holding a joint news conference with Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki.
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He was initially sentenced to three years after pleading not guilty to assaulting a foreign leader, then the court reduced it to one year because the journalist had no prior criminal history. Defence attorney Karim al-Shujairi said Al-Zeidi will now be released on September 14, three months early.