Freedom of Expression, My Foot
December 15, 2008 by Alfredo Deambrosi
Sympathizers of the shoe thrower are demanding that he be released on the grounds of freedom of expression.
What kind of freedom of expression would this Iraqi have had under Saddam Hussein? He would have been hanged by now for such an act.
Rather than resorting to physical assault, Muntadar al-Zeidi, you can thank George W. Bush for any freedom of expression that you do have.
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so we are to respect this man’s right to show a complete lack of respect. hmmmmm.
he threw a shoe.
let shoes be thrown at him on international tv. i know several that would love to show their free expression toward him. and i daresay he’d be clobbered with some nice boots over there.
I heard that the shoe thrower has gone through a lot, but I could not justify these actions . . .
. . . even if I were in his shoes.
Well, I heard today that shoe-thrower has been soundly punished by having his arm broken and ribs smashed while in the custody of our allies in the pursuit of corporate globalism and torture–oops I mean the pursuit of liberty and justice for all.
This is even better than having shoes thrown at him, no??? Everyone in Iraq now knows it is not wise to raise their proverbial (or literal) heels against their new Caesar.
The brother of the shoe-thrower said that Muntadhar’s arm was broken during the incident according to an article at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28252437/ which says the following: “Earlier, the al-Zeidi’s brother said the journalist had an arm broken in chaotic scenes when he was leapt on by Iraqi security officers.”
I have not heard any account, indicating that other injuries came later.
I’ll leave it to persons who are more qualified than I am to determine whether the force used during the arrest was inappropriate. I agree that it would certainly be wrong for officials to take it upon themselves to punish al-Zeidi by inflicting additional injuries after his arrest.
I must admit that I am surprised by another statement in the same article: “Leading criminal lawyer Ali Ahmed Mansour said Iraqi law allows for up to two years in prison for anyone who publicly insults a foreign state, an international organization or a foreign country’s head of state.”
I appreciate the idea of showing respect for political opponents (I have argued for doing so in two posts on this blog in the last two months), but punishing public insults with imprisonment really does show too much limitation on freedom of speech. If I were an Iraqi, though, I think I would still prefer the present freedom-of-expression policy over a Saddam Hussein regime.
Yikes! Apparently, al-Zeidi was beaten after all.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/world/middleeast/16shoe.html?_r=1&em
“Mr. Zaidi was subdued by a fellow journalist and then beaten by members of the prime minister’s security detail, who hauled him out of the room in his white socks.”
I’m glad it wasn’t any of Bush’s security guards who beat al-Zeidi.
Nothing to add that hasn’t already been said. But a brilliant blog Alfredo. I’m sorry only to have discovered just now.
Thanks, man.