Woman stabbed 18 times in court - innocent husband shot

[faceless]

Germany's new hatred
A Muslim woman is stabbed to death in a Dresden courtroom and nobody seems to care. Der Tagesspiegel's Andrea Dernbach comments on Germany’s problematic relationship to Islam.
10 Jul 09
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/opinion/20090710-20509.html

The tragic events in Dresden last week have left several unanswered questions: How can a defendant stab a witness 18 times in a courtroom without anyone stopping him? How can the only person apparently able to intervene – her husband – end up seriously injured? And how is it that the police officer coming to the scene ends up shoot directly at the Egyptian husband and not the attacker?

But there’s possibly already answers to two important questions: Why does the death of a woman wearing a headscarf – who wasn’t the victim of a so-called “honour killing” – spark so little interest in Germany? And why did the country’s politicians merely to shrug their shoulders for an entire week after the heinous deed? Could it be that this death – which is now a murder investigation – did not fit the preconceived notions most Germans have of Muslims?

A young woman Muslim, an educated and employed pharmacist, refuses to accept outrageous insult such as “slut,” Islamist,” and “terrorist” from a xenophobic man and decides to defend herself in a court of law. After suing her tormentor he is convicted, but at a retrial he kills her. Maybe most people simply chose to ignore this incident because it counters too many of our popular dogmas. For example, that education is the key to integration. In this case, a well-educated young woman, married to man working at the esteemed Max Planck Institute, died. Who knows, perhaps that enraged the unemployed racist murderer even more?

Or what about the claim that Islam and Western society simply don’t fit? Marwa al-Sherbini tried to defend herself not only in an extremely rational and civil way, but chose to do it in an extremely German fashion: instead of screaming back at the man she decided to sue him in court. Another truth also hurts: the frequent German association that “Islam” means “Islamist” and “terrorist” only because someone has darker skin or wears a headscarf. Those are sentiments not only held by extremists, even if the murderer apparently sympathised with the far-right NPD party.

Ever since Germany joined the war on terror after September 11, 2001 by profiling anyone appearing to be a devout Muslim with a beard or headscarf, it’s not only extremists linking Islam directly with terrorism. Anti-Semitism against Jews is at last widely condemned Germany, but now hatred of Islam is on the verge of becoming an acceptable form of racism. Fortunately the German Jewish Council has long made a point of trying to stem the rising tide.

But Chancellor Angela Merkel has remained silent and Geert Mackenroth, Saxony’s justice minister, apparently only wants to use the incident to push for closed courtrooms in the state – even though public access to trials is one of the most important pillars of a modern legal system. Mackenroth, the former head of the German Association of Judges, once tried to justify police torture in Frankfurt. Perhaps proponents of the West’s liberal legal traditions have as much to fear from German justice ministers as they do from Islamic law dictated by sharia.

This commentary was published with the kind permission of Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, where it originally appeared in German. Translation by The Local.

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What kind of court doesn't have a metal detector that would have detected the scumbag's knife? And if the cops had guns, why did it take them so long to shoot?

There were demonstrations in Iran against the German embassy, but for some strange reason they didn't get the coverage that the other recent demos got.

[luke]

this is from the guardian;

It was while Marwa el-Sherbini was in the dock recalling how the accused had insulted her for wearing the hijab after she asked him to let her son sit on a swing last summer, that the very same man strode across the Dresden courtroom and plunged a knife into her 18 times.

Her three-year-old son Mustafa was forced to watch as his mother slumped to the courtroom floor.

Even her husband Elvi Ali Okaz could do nothing as the 28-year-old Russian stock controller who was being sued for insult and abuse took the life of his pregnant wife. As Okaz ran to save her, he too was brought down, shot by a police officer who mistook him for the attacker. He is now in intensive care in a Dresden hospital.

its just crazy that something like that can happen inside a court

[Skylace]

That is insane indeed.

They may well have had metal detectors Face. There have been instances over here where people can get around them. A protection system is only as good as those running it. Someone inside could have provided a knife by sneaking it in and leaving it in a place to be picked up or it may have been a ceramic knife, there are always ways to get around those things.

[pirtybirdy]

So the articles gather that because of this incident, all Germans are racists? That's a load of shite. I think the incident happened because of poor security measures put in place, and poor police training. I don't know if the their court security have guns in the courtroom at all times like ours does, but I don't quite understand why they would mistake the husband, unless it's outside police who didn't see it occur. That's just another failure right there. Another final reason is the lunatic being tried in the courtroom. Don't ya just love slanted news that wants people to believe in their agendas? It was a tragedy indeed, but not because of a whole nation of racists Germans.

[faceless]

The first article is from a popular Berlin newspaper, so if they're saying that about their own country then there must be something in it. I don't think that the average German is racist though, but, just as we have here in Britain and you have in America, there's millions of ignorant bastards in Germany who will just blame anyone who looks or acts different for the fact that their life is shit.

[luke]

i don't know about germany, but here, theres a lot of anti muslim feeling, like faceless says, born out of ignorance. if the same things were said about jews, it would be unacceptable.

i didn't get the slant you did though pirty when reading the article - that all germans are racist, i got more of an indifference to it, a lack of interest or concern.

[luke]

German on trial over Muslim murder


Al-Sherbini was stabbed at least 16 times in a Dresden court in July

A man accused of killing a pregnant Egyptian woman in court in an attack is to go on trial in Germany.

Prosecutors say the defendant, identified as Alex W, stabbed Marwa al-Sherbini at least 16 times in three minutes on July 1, in the same courthouse where
his three-week trial will be held.

Some 200 police officers will guard the proceedings in the eastern city of Dresden on Monday.

German media reported online death threats against the defendant, who will appear in court behind bulletproof glass.

The 28-year-old Russian-born German resident allegedly plunged an 18cm kitchen knife into the chest, back and arm of al-Sherbini, who was three months pregnant at the time with her second child.

Prosecutors say the killing motivated was by "a pronounced hatred of non-Europeans and Muslims".

The accused is also charged with attempting to kill her husband, Elwy Okaz, who tried to come to her aid.

'Maximum sentence'

Egyptian media labelled her "the veil martyr", and on Sunday, the Egyptian government demanded the maximum sentence for Alex W, which is life in prison under German law.

Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba, reporting from Dresden, said that many people in Germany were shocked over the lapse in security in the courthouse.

"But in the wider world, questions were asked about the nature of the attack," he said.

"Marwa al-Sherbini took the defendant to court over an alleged insult to her and her ethnicity and religion. These cases are usually given extra security in courthouses.

"In this case however, there was actually no officer in the courtroom, and it took a few minutes after the incident for security to arrive."

AL-Sherbini's family will appear in Dresden as co-plaintiffs, represented by lawyers hired by Cairo, the foreign ministry said.

Slow reaction

The shocking attack, and the slow reaction by the German media , left the country open to accusations of neglectful handling of hate crimes against Muslim residents.

Berlin moved to deflect criticism, with Angela Merkel, the chancellor, expressing her condolences to Hosni Mubarak , the president.

Thousands of people have rallied in Dresden in al-Sherbini's memory.

"Many people in and outside Germany are looking to Dresden and hoping to see this murder punished," Nabil Yacoub, of the Dresden Immigrants Council, told AFP news agency.

The case also triggered anti-German protests in Muslim-majority countries such as Egypt and Iran

[faceless]

Vandals attack 'veil martyr' memorial
23 Jul 2010
thelocal.de/society/20100723-28705.html

Vandals have attacked an art project erected in honour of a pregnant Egyptian woman who was murdered in a German court room, organisers said Friday. The Citizen.Courage group, which sponsored the display in the eastern city of Dresden, said that a few knife-shaped columns used in the open-air show had been knocked over several times and signs explaining the project were stolen.

"Citizen.Courage assumes this was a malicious, politically motivated attempt to destroy the project," group chairman Christian Demuth said in statement. "To warn against everyday racism, we will not restore the destroyed installations. But we will continue the project." A police spokeswoman said authorities had opened an investigation.

During a trial last July, a Russian-born defendant suddenly attacked Sherbini - who was Muslim and wore a headscarf - plunging an 18 centimetre kitchen knife at least 16 times into her while she was three-months pregnant with her second child. Her son, Mustafa, three years old at the time, watched her bleed to death at the courtroom. Sherbini's husband, Egyptian geneticist Elwy Okaz, rushed to her aid but was also stabbed repeatedly and then shot in the leg by a police officer confused about who was attacking whom.

The 28-year-old assailant, who was sentenced to life in prison, attacked her out of revenge after she pressed charges against him for calling her a "terrorist", "Islamist" and "whore" during a dispute over a playground swing. The killing, and the initially muted reaction of Germany's politicians and media, sparked outrage in Sherbini's home country, as well as in the wider Muslim world. Many newspapers dubbed her the "veil martyr" after her headscarf.

The "18 Stabs" installation, unveiled on the first anniversary of Sherbini's death on July 1, featured 18 knife-shaped concrete pillars erected throughout the city with signs condemning racism and xenophobic violence.

[faceless]

Family of 'veil martyr' files case against Dresden judges
3 Dec 2010
thelocal.de/national/20101203-31573.html

The family of the pregnant Egyptian woman murdered last year in a Dresden courtroom has filed a case against the two judges on the bench that day for not preventing her death, city officials said on Friday.

Marwa El-Sherbini, dubbed the “veil martyr,” was stabbed to death in a courtroom in July 2009 in a racially motivated crime that outraged the Muslim world. The 31-year-old was stabbed by Russian-born Alex Wiens at least 16 times with an 18-centimetre kitchen knife. She was three-months pregnant with her second child. Her three-year-old son, Mustafa, watched her bleed to death in the courtroom. Sherbini’s husband, Egyptian geneticist Elwy Okaz, rushed to her aid but was also stabbed and then shot in the leg by a police officer who was unsure who was the attacker.

Wiens said he was acting out of revenge after El-Sherbini, who wore a headscarf, had pressed charges against him for calling her a “terrorist,” “Islamist” and “whore” during a dispute over a playground swing in August 2008. He confessed to the crime during his trial, which resulted in a life sentence.

Sherbini’s family has now filed a case, called a Klageerzwingungsverfahren in German, to force the higher regional court to review their accusations against the court officials present the day of the murder, who they say did not properly insure her safety.

During Wiens’ trial, Sherbini’s husband Okaz complained of insufficient security measures in the courtroom. He also filed a criminal complaint against the court for negligent homicide. Despite knowledge of Wiens’ “criminal intent” there had been no special security arranged, one of the family’s lawyers said at the time. But state prosecutors dropped the case, saying it lacked evidence. Courts in Saxony have increased security measures since the murder as a result of the tragic murder.

The family’s latest case to force further review is unlikely to be addressed before the new year, court spokeswoman Karin Haller said.

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