15 years for kidnapper of British journalist in Iraq

Richard Butler was rescued 2 months in to his ordeal An Iraqi court handed down a 15-year jail term on Saturday to a man it convicted of taking part in the abduction of a British journalist in 2008, a judiciary spokesman said. Spokesman Abdel Sattar al-Beriqdar did not identify the convict by name but said the court had sentenced him for the armed kidnapping of Richard Butler, who was seized with his translator and held hostage for two months.
"The Iraqi central criminal court issued a 15-year prison sentence against the defendant for kidnapping the British journalist Richard Butler," Beriqdar said in a statement.
"In issuing its verdict, the court saw the evidence collected during the judicial investigations, and sentenced him in accordance with the Anti-Terror Law," he added.
Butler was kidnapped on February 10, 2008, while on assignment for US television network CBS in the main southern city of Basra. He was freed two months later after a a fierce firefight between his abductors and Iraqi forces.
He was found after the 30-minute gun battle, handcuffed and hooded.