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Muslim woman killed in courtroom bloodbath was pregnant |
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Propaganda War
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Saturday, 04 July 2009 |
A woman stabbed to death in a Dresden courtroom was three months pregnant, reported German newspaper Bild on Friday.
According to Egyptian newspapers, the woman was Marwa al-Sherbini, a 32-year-old Egyptian national who was suing her attacker after he insulted her for wearing the Islamic headscarf. The attacker, identified only as Alex W., was appealing the €780 fine he was ordered to pay in the libel suit.
Al-Sherbini was the wife of Egyptian academic Elwi Ali-Okaz. He was also hurt in the incident after he tried to help his wife and is in critical condition in hospital. Police are now investigating Alex W. for manslaughter.
“The investigation into this bloody crime is bound to show there are some indications the suspect was hostile toward foreigners – the signs are there,” said Saxony police chief Bernd Merbitz told Bild.
Magdi al-Sayed, press officer at the German embassy in Cairo, said the case was isolated and did not reflect German attitude towards Muslims.
"It is a criminal act. It has nothing to do with persecution against Muslims," Sayed told the Egyptian state newspaper The Gazette.
The stabbing happened July 1, just before al-Sherbini was to give her evidence. During the struggle, other bystanders were also injured and police fired a shot. Al-Sherbini died in the courtroom.
The 28-year-old attacker was overpowered and is now under investigation for manslaughter, a spokesman for the Dresden prosecutor's office said.
Chairman of the German judge federation Christoph Frank is now demanding that safety and security measures must be brought up to standard.
“Each individual law court must be examined and security infrastructure put in place to better protect citizens,” he said to the Bild.
The incident recalled a similar scene of courtroom violence in the Bavarian town of Landshut in April, when a 60-year-old man shot his sister-in-law before turning the gun on himself, following an inheritance ruling.
AFP/The Local
Racist Murder in Dresden, Germany (trans)
On August 21, 2008, Marwa was with her then 2-year-old at a playground in the Dresden suburb of Johannstadt. She had arrived in Germany together with her son and husband, Ali, three years prior to the incident from Egypt. Ali holds a fellowship at the renowned Max-Planck-Institut
On the playground, an argument arose between Marwa and and the 27-year-old Alex, where he insulted her with words like “slut”, “Islamist”, and “Terrorist.” After an official complaint was filed, a local court fined the man 780 Euro. The prosecutors felt that the punishment was too soft, and the man proceeded to appeal the decision. As a result, the appeal was heard by the State Court in Dresden in July 2009.
During the proceedings on the morning of July 1st, in addition to the accused and his state-assigned counsel, both Marwa’s 3-year-old son and her husband were in attendance. The routine process was running without incident, when the situation radically changed in a matter of seconds. As Marwa wrapped up her statement to the court, the accused man lunged at her with a knife he had brought with him. In front of her child, Marwa was stabbed eighteen times in less than 30 seconds. Both the defense attorney and Marwa’s husband attempted to get between the man and Marwa, resulting in Ali being stabbed. Two police officers, who stormed the hall, took Ali for the attacker, shooting him in the leg. Only afterwards could the real attacker be identified and taken into custody.
Marwia died right there in the courtroom as a result of the stab wounds. It is now become known that she was pregnant at the time of her death. Her husband was taken to the hospital with life threatening injuries. The 3-year-old son, who was also injured, has been taken into care by friends. A spokesperson of the prosecution, Christian Avenarius, spoke a day after the incident, described the incident as the “fanatical actions of a lone man, who was acting out of feelings of extreme xenophobia.”
Indymedia
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