The name of the Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who, many years ago, threw the shoe at US President George W. Bush, has returned to the fore in the past few hours.
Under the hashtag “I want my daughter”, the Lebanese journalist, Maryam Yaghi, launched an online campaign in which she explains to public opinion her suffering with her ex-husband who kidnapped her daughter, Amedia from her bosom and deprived her of seeing her for more than two years, she said.
And she spoke in a video clip broadcast yesterday evening on her Facebook account, regarding her torment journey with Al-Zaidi, who kidnapped her daughter two years ago from Lebanon, following she had obtained the right of custody according to Iraqi law.
Blackmail her with videos of her daughter
Yaghi told Al Arabiya.net: “Her ex-husband for two and a half years used many means to prevent her from seeing her daughter, trying to blackmail her with videos in which he forced her to say things once morest her mother.”
She also explained that he forced the 7-and-a-half-year-old to say that she did not want to live with her mother, and also incited her to kill her.
She also stressed that she did not leave a diplomatic means except and used it in order to restore “Amedia”, and even resorted to a “sheikh” in order to find a solution in the interest of the young girl, but her ex-husband always resorted, according to her, to procrastination and procrastination.
So, following she failed to include her daughter, she resorted to social media as the only platform through which she might convey her voice to those concerned and form a pressing Arab public opinion that would help her regain her right to embrace her daughter.
I was silent for two years
She said, “I was silent regarding my right to custody of Amedia for two years, and I did not want to appear in the media and in front of public opinion, because the rights of the child are sacred to me and not to make my daughter a media object and a means of provocation.”
On the other hand, Muntazer al-Zaidi began sending photos and videos to blackmail Yaghi, as she says, claiming that Amedia does not want to return to her, as he claimed to the public that she had abandoned her.
He also tried to blackmail all those who sympathized with Maryam, including journalists, activists, and friends.
A picture from the video that Maryam Yaghi posted on her Facebook account
“Injustice and Iniquity”
In addition, she pointed out that “her ex-husband violates Amedia’s childhood because he first deprived her of her mother’s bosom, and secondly forced her to record videos once morest her.”
Yaghi added, “Two years following the kidnapping of my daughter, I traveled to Iraq to meet her following long negotiations with her father, but he stipulated that I not take pictures with Amedia and publish them through social media, and that I sign an official pledge that I will return her to Iraq, which I completely refused, Because my signature means that I agree to his kidnapping my child even though I have custody.”
Despite all this, Mariam complied with her ex-husband’s conditions in order to see her daughter, with the exception of signing a pledge. She visited her at her school and held her to her chest without taking pictures with her.
Mary and her daughter
She also rented a house in Iraq to stay near her and enjoy her custody and motherhood, she said, stressing that she will stay until she obtains the residence permit that will give her the right to file a custody case. She concluded, “What is happening to me is injustice and deception. Amedia needs me and I will do everything possible to be with me.”
It is noteworthy that the video that Yaghi published on her Facebook account received a wide interaction from media professionals and activists on social networking sites, and they expressed their sympathy for the mother, whose suffering has continued for two years, despite the fact that Iraqi law gives her the right of custody until the age of 15 years.
