An Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at George Bush, then-US president, has been given a three-year jail sentence after pleading not guilty to assaulting a foreign head of state.
The sentencing of Muntazer al-Zaidi, 30, by the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad on Thursday, was announced by Al-Baghdadiya television, his employer.
Al-Zaidi plans to appeal the decision, according to his lawyer.
The journalist, who became a hero in Iraq after the incident, arrived at the court under a heavy police escort.
Bush was speaking in December at a joint news conference in Baghdad with Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, when al-Zaidi hurled his shoes at him.
The shoes narrowly missed Bush, who later brushed the incident aside.
Al-Zaidi's defense team says the charge against him does not apply because Bush was not in Baghdad on an official visit and had arrived without an invitation.
PHOTO CAPTION
A handout video grab shows Iraqi TV journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi during a talk show presented by Zaven Kouyoumjian that was taped November 26, 2008.
Al-Jazeera