Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf was forced to dodge a flying shoe as he headed into court on Friday.
An angry lawyer threw the shoe his way as the ex-president walked into a Karachi court, surrounded by security and members of the press, The Associated Press reports. The shoe missed him, AP says.
Mr. Musharraf — who led a military coup to seized power in 1999 — faces charges related to the 2007 assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and the 2006 killing of Baluch nationalist leader Akbar Bugti, AP reports. He also faces charges of illegally removing several judges from their benches — a move that angered several attorneys at the time, AP says.
The attorney who threw the shoe was not charged, AP says.
Even showing the bottom of a shoe is considered an insult in Arab culture — and much more so to be hit by one. Arab culture views the shoe as dirty and related to the lowest part of the body. Being hit with a shoe is a message: You’re the lowest of the low.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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