Further Updates on Case of Muntather Al-Zaidi, Saturday December 20

by Najlaa Al-Nashi, with Noah Baker Merrill

Today is the seventh day since Muntather was arrested.

Yesterday there was a soccer game between two famous Iraqi teams.  Tens of thousands of Iraqi citizens who attended the match chanted Muntather’s name, calling him a hero. They shouted that, Sunni and Shi’i, they wanted him to be released.

The sight and the sound showed the power behind their words, and watching impressed me deeply with the strength of these men’s demand for Muntather’s release.

Also today at Al-Anbar University, hundred of students marched out of classes and into the streets calling for the release of “Muntather Al-Iraqi” . American forces tried to stop them by shooting into the air, The students stopped in front of the soldiers and began throwing stones at the soldiers.

Muntather’s family organized a sit-in in front of one gate of the Green Zone in Baghdad, and many iraqis have joined them. A few members of the Iraqi Parliament were present as well. Iraqi security forces ended the sit-in using force, and they prevented Al-Baghdadiya, the television channel for which Al-Zaidi works, from documenting what happened there.

In London and Manchester, Iraqis living in Britain along with other British activists protested Muntather’s incarceration and called for his immediate release.

Many news media are still providing updates and following the case, and many of these have been surprised by the way in which the Iraqi government is dealing with the situation. They cite similar cases in which eggs or tomatoes have been thrown as a form of protest, and none of these have been considered such a serious crime.  They are asking why this one should be taken so much more seriously, especially since Muntather’s actions enjoyed widespread public support and targeted a man responsible for what is widely understood as an ongoing illegal military occupation.