Shoe-throwing trial
June 2, 2009
A court in Cambridge pronounced 27-year-old Martin Jahnke not guilty.
District Judge Ken Sheraton said there was insufficient evidence to prove that 27-year-old Martin Jahnke had behaved in a way likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
"I am very pleased with the result," the pathology postgraduate student said in a statement read by a lawyer.
"I would like to thank all those members of the public who have supported me, including the Chinese community," Jahnke said. "I hope now attention can move away from me to the real issue of human rights in China."
Jahnke interrupted a speech by Wen Jiabao at Cambridge University in February this year, shouting "this is a scandal," branding the Chinese premier "a dictator" and throwing a sneaker at him. The shoe missed Wen by a meter.
The Chinese leader described the shoe-throwing as "despicable" before continuing with his speech.
Student denied charges
Martin Jahnke faced charges of disrupting public peace, insult and incitement to violence.
The German tudent denied all charges at a pervious hearing in February. Jahnke said his act was meant to protest against China's human rights policies.
Since the episode, Wen has said Jahnke should be allowed to continue his studies at Cambridge and insisted the incident would not harm relations with Britain.
sp/afp/dpa
Editor: Trinity Hartman