The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush spoke out Tuesday after his release from prison. At a news conference, Muntadhar al-Zaidi said he was tortured during his nine-month jail term.

Muntadhar al-Zaidi: “What provoked me to a confrontation was the injustice that has befallen my people and the way in which the occupation wanted to humiliate my country by placing it and its people — the elderly, women, children and men — under its boots. At the time, the Iraqi prime minister appeared on satellite channels saying he would not sleep until he was assured of Bush’s safety. As the prime minister was speaking, I was being tortured in the most cruel manner, being electrocuted, beaten with cables, beaten with metal rods.”