Germany: Muslim woman killed in courtroom bloodbath was pregnant

I just heard her father on an Egyptian program, this is so heart wrenching. He wants the Egyptian government not be lax in this and not let the perpetrator get away because there is talk he is “deranged”; funny how to convince people it is an isolated incident they end up making the murder as a lunatic but if the case was reversed the head of the state will be responsible and all kinds of nasty things would be said about Muslims. This is an obvious hate crime, the police who did not do their job in the court to keep it safe should be punished too. The mother of the victim is also in a very bad state. May Allah give them patience to get through this trial, ameen.

Woman killed in courtroom bloodbath was pregnant

3 Jul 09, source

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.

Update on the issue:

Husband of Egyptian pregnant woman killed in German court tells of anger

Update 2:

Thousands Remember Headscarf Martyr: Marwa Sherbini