How To Get 3 Years
Well one way is to get drunk behind the wheel and mow down some innocent pedestrian down killing them instantly and creating lifelong suffering to their family. Another way is to throw a shoe at the 41st president of America and not even hit the target.
Well this is what has happened to an Iraq journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi. He used his privilege as a journalist and then in front of millions worldwide, threw his shoe at the President making him a hero in Iraq. Today he has been sentenced to 3 years behind bars, something that here in the UK, we seem to reserve for more serious crimes.
A fair agreement would suggest that it is a great insult in Iraq to throw shoes at anyone that may result in up to 15 years behind bars and even though this journalist and pretty much everyone in the western world may think his was harsh it certainly isn’t 15 years and you can’t help thinking he would be out in 1 year.
There is also a security issue here, with shoes being used to hide bombs in planes, it was possible this amusing incident could have been more serious and locking this person up, hopefully is a message that shoe throwing is just a gimmick, but could be a very serious one, if security had thought it was a bomb and decided to shoot the journalist instead.