Germany: Muslim Marwa Sherbini's Trial Begins

DRESDEN, Germany — The husband of a pregnant Egyptian woman knifed to death in a German courtroom testified Monday that the alleged attacker continued stabbing his wife even after she was on the ground.

The suspect, 29-year-old Alexander W., arrived for his trial in the same court room Monday with his face concealed beneath a hood, hat, sunglasses and a mask. Only after several urgings by the judge did he remove the mask, hat and hood, but he was fined for contempt of court for keeping the sunglasses on.

He faces charges of murder, attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm for the July slaying of 31-year-old Marwa al-Sherbini. As in all criminal cases in Germany, Alexander W.'s surname will be withheld by the court unless the defendant is convicted.

The attack has outraged Muslims, who dubbed al-Sherbini "the headscarf martyr" and lambasted it as evidence of Islamophobia in Europe.

Members of al-Sherbini family including her husband, Elwy Ali Okaz, are acting as co-plaintiffs in the trial – meaning they can review evidence, file motions and question witnesses.

On the trial's opening day, Okaz described the attack, in which he also was injured trying to protect his wife.

The suspect "still stabbed her when she was already lying on the floor," Okaz said in Arabic, identifying Alexander W. as the attacker.

About 200 police officers secured the Dresden courthouse Monday amid fears of a potential revenge attack.

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Dresden prosecutors have said the defendant was driven by a "hatred of non-Europeans and Muslims," according to the indictment. If convicted, Alexander W. could face life in prison. The trial is scheduled to last until Nov. 11.

Al-Sherbini was killed while giving court evidence in July against a Russian-born attacker who was convicted of defamation for having called her a "terrorist" and "Islamist" during an altercation.

Prosecutors say Alexander W. smuggled a 7-inch (18-centimeter) kitchen knife into the courtroom and stabbed al-Sherbini repeatedly in front of her husband, 3-year-old son and eight courtroom officials.

Okaz was stabbed when he tried to intervene, and was accidentally shot in the leg by a security guard who mistook him for the attacker.

The case is being closely monitored in Germany and abroad. Egyptian Ambassador Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy was attending the trial, as were representatives of leading Muslim rights groups in Germany.

Ramzy said he expected "a speedy sentence. A just sentence that is commensurate with a serious crime."

In al-Sherbini's home city of Alexandria, in Egypt, dozens of supporters, friends and family members gathered for a rally demanding justice in the German case.

"We will never forget you, Marwa," the crowd shouted.

The protesters held photos of al-Sherbini and small banners in both Arabic and English calling for "justice ... punishment."

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On the Net:

http://www.marwaelsherbiny.com

Comments

[qthedancer]

Why does the headline state that "Muslim Marwa Sherbini's trial" has begun? On trial is the killer, Alexander W., NOT the victim.

[loutreverte]

Overlooked in this is that the victim was trying to prosecute the murderer over what amounts to an insult made in a private conversation. Perhaps there is more to the situation, but it is quite possibly none of this would have happened if so-called 'hate speech' laws were not in place in much of Europe.

[TonyMbutu]

Nonsense. He was guilty of defamation. And in such situations, the correct response is to defend yourself in court, not to stab the plaintiff. This had NOTHING to do with the state of the law in Europe, but with the racist attitude that some people have, nothing more.

[kareemachan]

Possibly. Not probably.

"On 21 August 2008, Alex W, (a German citizen, born in Perm, Russia but claiming German ethnic origin) shouted abuse at El-Sherbini in a public playground for children in Dresden, in a quarrel over the use of a swing by his niece and El-Sherbini's son. El-Sherbini, wearing an Islamic headscarf, was called an ‘Islamist’, ‘terrorist’ and (by one report) ‘slut'. Others present tried to intervene, but Alex W continued the verbal abuse for several minutes until the police arrived at the scene, directing epithets in Russian and German at the Russian-speaking bystanders who tried to reason with him. Alex W was charged with defamation, pressed by El-Sherbini and given a penalty order to pay a fine of 330 Euro. After formally objecting and refusing to pay the fine, W was found guilty by the district court of Dresden, issuing a fine of 780 Euro in November 2008. During the trial W claimed mitigating circumstances for the act of insulting El-Sherbini, suggesting that ‘people like her’ were not real humans and therefore cannot be insulted. The Public Prosecutor appealed the verdict, aiming at a custodial sentence, due to the openly xenophobic character of the incident."

[kareemachan]

Part 2:

My reading of it was that his original behavior would have escalated into violence if the police hadn't been called in, and if not then, then eventually to someone else. Why shouldn't there be consequences for that kind of behavior, consequences that might make someone think twice before giving into hateful behavior?

[chedet]

are you trying to justify her murder? nice is it because she's a muslim? so her life matters less? very good. go screw yourself!

[Khirad]

My question here is, who is the terrorist?

[chedet]

I'm mortified.... condolences to the husband and child =(

[davidwayneosedach]

This sounds like a one-off killing by someone who is mentally unbalanced.

[jasi]

I think the sadistic motivations behind domestic abuse are probably very different than those behind killings in the name of social/tribal/and religious honor or whatever you want to call it. While such killings are not exclusive to Arab and Islamic societies (e.g. see Latin America and India), personally, I don't like to overlook the correlation. Organized religions of any type tend to discourage social progress.

[alexa07]

"The trial of a man accused of stabbing a pregnant Egyptian woman to death in a German courtroom opened Monday in the same venue amid heightened security."

We are not given the religious affiliation of Marwa's attacker, but we can assume he was not Muslim. (If the role were reversed, the victim a German citizen, & the perpetrator a Muslim, do you really think the media would exclude the religion of the attacker?) This is important because in the case of hate crimes or domestic abuse in the USA or Europe, the religion of the perpetrators or its "correlation" to the crime is usually not considered worthy of noting unless, of course, the religion is Islam. In point of fact, people of all religions or no religions commit hate crimes, domestic & otherwise. How the media portrays these crimes, what details are cited or omitted, can be powerful influences in how the general public perceives individuals who may differ from them in terms of nationality or religion or lifestyle.

[Naville]

Intelligently and Eloquently put.

fanned

[PKatherine]

huh Latin America... but they are Christians!!!

[DC]

Huh, I do not understand this post? Is it off topic?

The victim was a Muslim woman who happened to be testifying in a German courtroom. The murderer was an Alexander W. who has a "hatred of non-Europeans and Muslims,"

She was stabbed to death in the court room in front of her husband and three year old child.

What does domestic abuse have to do with that??

[protagonia]

This is a Male-Female issue.

[PittDude]

wow.. seriously? congratulations man.. You solved the legal issue, perhaps you should get a career in law enforcement or judicial system! A woman was stabed over a dozen time inside the court, surrouded by police who shot her HUSBAND that tried to protect her "accidentally of course". Stabbed by a man who threw racial slurs at her and her little baby son.. and all you can get out of this story that it is a male-female issue. Wow.. how deep!

[protagonia]

Rather than just a clash between eastern and western culture.

[blutigeroo]

"Dresden prosecutors have said the defendant was driven by a "HATRED of non-Europeans and MUSLIMS," according to the indictment."
The German foreign minister has already issued an apology and recognition of the problem of Islamophobia i.e. He is admitting that Marwa was killed because she was Muslim.

This is NOT a male-female issue, this is a hate crime. Yes hate exists in all societies, we should not try to cover it up. That is not how you fight hate.

He killed a pregnant Muslim women and was allowed out on bail for crissake!

Besides the bail, there are other holes in this tragedy.
Why did the police "accidentally" shoot the husband? I suspect that they automatically assumed he was the perpetrator, which is why racial profiling sucks.
How on earth was a 7-inch knife smuggled into a courtroom?
Why is Western media so silent about this case? If a Muslim had killed a Non-Muslim in the same circumstances the whole western world would be up in arms. When a western women is attacked in a Muslim country for not wearing a headscarf the whole western world is up in arms. This is the kind of outrageous story the MSM usually loves. Anytime a Muslim is even accused of a crime its frontpage news, repeated over and over again in western state media.

[protagonia]

Hate Crime - Male - Female.

Similar.

[Alofat]

Oh shut up please. All your so called questions were answered over and over again in the past, but just for you I will answer them again, slowly this time.

Why did the police "accidentally" shoot the husband?
This police man was testifying in another case and came late to the scene, all he could see were two man struggling. He made choice, the wrong one in hindsight, end of story.

How on earth was a 7-inch knife smuggled into a courtroom?
It was a civil case, there are no metal detectors, police officers or armed bailiffs in a civil court in Germany.

Why is Western media so silent about this case?
What the hell are you talking about? It is all over the news for month now. The fact that you are commenting on this story, on one of "westerns" biggest news sites should clue you in.

[Blackorpheus]

A pregnant Muslim was leaped upon and stabbed repeatedly in a Dresden courtroom by a man convicted of insulting her religion.

She’d sued her German murderer after he called her a "suicide bomber" because of her headscarf.

Prosecutors said the murderer was driven by a deep hatred of Muslims.

[MosheDayanHero]

Life without possibility of parole.

[TLV]

This is not a typical "I hate Muslims" murder as those in our country after nine-eleven were. True - any murder carried out due to a person's hatred toward a religion is wacko, but this guy is clearly mentally unstable. How he got a knife through the metal detector is what I'd like to know.

[PoliSci2008]

How, did you ask? A lackadasical judical process and judge. For the darned Judge to plead and cajole an accused murderer to remove his hood is ridiculous. This murderer should been under arrest and in handcuffs, not free on bail, when he enter that court.


My 2 cents from an out-raged Christian.

[PigsOnSoma]

Muslim women really bear the brunt of the world's wrath. I'd like to know where the wrath of the world muslim community is when there's an honor killing on Western soil. To them this guy is western evil (rightly), but when a brother kills his 'westernized' sister that seems acceptable.

[TellMeSumn]

Humans should be outraged when there's any case of murder. Singling out Muslims to be outraged about an honor murder is as a result of not even being aware that 'honor killing' is not an Islamic tenet or injunction. Learn about it before you speak.

[alexa07]

Domestic abuse occurs in EVERY society, but we don't blame the religion unless it is Islam. TellMeSumn, I'm glad you responded as you did to the previous comment. The murder of Marwa, the lack of coverage about it in the Western media & the stereotypical comments it has engendered on the part of many speaks volumes, sadly.

[jajenkins]

Members of a religious group are not responsible for the individual actions of other members of that religious group.

I do not accost my Hindi friends, for example, and accuse them of some sort of culpability in the thousands of "kitchen deaths" that occur each year in India - you know, where the young wife accidentally douses herself in kerosene and sets herself alight because she didn't bring enough money into the marriage.

And before you point out that dowries and the resultant abuses are a custom rather than a religious requirement, I would remind you that honour killing is also a custom rather than a religious requirement.

As for Muslim's rage over this murder - it is justified. This was a vicious attack on an educated young woman (a pharmacist) who had committed the "crime" of holding this swine accountable when he called her a 'terrorist' on the street and tried to pull off her head-scarf. When the hate-crime first occurred, there was a shocking nonchalance in the German press for several days before outraged protests in Egypt brought international attention to this hate-crime.

[blutigeroo]

Why are Chinese Christians in Malayasia complaining when they actually have far greater rights then they would in China? Why are the Buddhists in Bangladesh complaininh about discrimination and not greatly outraged by the even greater repression against non Buddhists in Burma ?
I am guessing that instead of asking these sort of questions, the tenor of the reaction would be more along the lines of asking Muslims to show greater respect or tolerance for minorities.
Now when Muslims are justifably outraged by an Islamophobic murder they are being upbraided for not showing similar outrage for a crime committed somewhere else. Americans who vicariously support the protests in Iran are not asked why they do not show greater outrage for the regular bombings of Afghan civilians by their government or for their governments blind acceptance of the siege of Gaza.
Muslims are lectured on their 'silence' and informed of the supposed "greater protections" afforded to Muslims in Europe. This is not even considering the fact that the vast majority of incidents of harrassment and worse of Muslim women wearing hijab go unreported and ignored by the European media. In fact, the only reason this particular incident is being reported at all is because it resulted in murder and Egypt is outraged. Even then, so many people like you concentrate on the "overreactions" of those "angry Muslims" rather than any introspective look at Islamophobia in Europe.