German on trial for murder of pregnant Muslim woman

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Newbunkle

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The trial of a man accused of stabbing a pregnant Egyptian woman to death inside a German courtroom has begun in the city of Dresden.

The defendant, 29-year-old Alex W, had earlier been fined for calling Marwa Sherbini "a terrorist" and "Islamist".

He is alleged to have smuggled a kitchen knife into an appeal hearing where Ms Sherbini was killed.

The attack in July sparked outrage in the Muslim world, with protests in Egypt, Iran and Turkey.

The defendant is accused of murder, attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm.

He was fined 50 euros ($75; £46) by the judge, Birgit Wiegand, for refusing to remove his sunglasses although he conceded to lower his hood.

Tight security

He faced another fine after refusing to confirm his name and place of birth, the AFP news agency reported.

The trial is taking place in the same courtroom as the stabbing and security is tight.

Two hundred police are securing the courthouse and bullet-proof glass has been installed in the courtroom.

Anyone attending the hearing has to undergo strict security screenings similar to that in airports.

The defendant has been the subject of internet death threats.

Ms Wiegand told the court that the trial would try to get "to the bottom of the circumstances" surrounding Ms Sherbini's death.

The case began with an argument in a playground in 2008.

Ms Sherbini, a pharmacist, is said to have asked the defendant to let her child use a playground swing he was sitting on.

He allegedly refused and instead called her abusive names.

Ms Sherbini took the defendant to court and he was fined 780 euros ($1,170; £718) for defamation.

'Hatred'

But when he returned to court for the appeal on 1 July this year, prosecutors say he smuggled a seven-inch (18cm) kitchen knife into the courtroom and stabbed Ms Sherbini at least 16 times with it.

The 31-year-old, who was three-months pregnant with her second child, bled to death.

Ms Sherbini's three-year-old son was with the family in court when she was killed.

Her husband Elwy Ali Okaz was stabbed as he tried to protect his wife.

He was also accidentally shot in the leg by German police who initially believed him to be the attacker.

He arrived at court on crutches wearing a badge showing his wife's face.

Prosecutors say the defendant - an unemployed Russian-born German national - was motivated by a "hatred of non-Europeans and Muslims".

He reportedly suffers from depression. However, court-appointed psychiatric experts said they had not found any evidence of diminished responsibility, the AFP news agency reported.

Newspapers in Egypt and other Islamic countries have expressed outrage at the case, asking how the fatal attack could have happened. Ms Sherbini, who wore a headscarf, has been dubbed "the martyr of the Hijab".

Muslim leaders accused Germany of Islamophobia and German officials of being far too slow to react to the killing.

The Egyptian government has hired lawyers for Ms Sherbini's family and has called for a life sentence if the defendant is convicted - the maximum penalty possible.

Axel Koehler, president of the German Central Council of Muslims, said his community expected a "strong conviction".

"We are looking at this trial with great anticipation because our women and girls are obviously scared", he said.

BBC

This proves just how barbaric European society truly is. Hopefully with the arrival of peaceful Muslim immigrants like Marwa Sherbini, some civilized behaviour might rub off on us and end our barbaric ways.
 
Ridiculous all around, starting with taking someone to court for defamation over what probably was clearly for spectators at the time a rant of some rather unbalanced character.
Being conflictive may lead to the escalation of conflicts, who'd have guessed?

This proves just how barbaric European society truly is.

Want another stupid generalization? In the US and some other countries the husband would have been killed outright if mistaken by the attacker.
As you can see, generalizations are stupid.

And the news piece you quote states that the attacker was russian. Why did you wrote german in the title?
 
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