Marwa Al-Sherbini's accused murderer in court

The man accused of stabbing Egyptian Marwa Al-Sherbini (pictured left) 18 times in a Dresden courtroom in July, killing her in front of her husband and three year old son, has appeared in court charged with her murder.

‘Alex W’, who stabbed Marwa during a hearing to appeal his fine for defamation, is said to have been motivated by a “hatred of non-Europeans and Muslims”.

He was in court in July attempting to appeal a fine for verbally abusing Ms Sherbini, calling her an ‘Islamist, a ‘Muslim bitch’’ and a ‘terrorist’, when he stabbed her to death.

The murder of 31-year-old Marwa, who was three-months pregnant with her second child, sparked large protests in Egypt at the lack of outrage and media coverage of the case in the German press.

Anja Seeliger commenting on what the murder revealed of the ignorance of racism and anti-Muslim prejudice in German society wrote:

‘I don’t think Marwa’s murder proves German “Islamophobia”. But it proves a lack of interest in the reality of today’s German society that is disturbing. And the more one thinks about it, the more disturbing it gets.

‘Journalists could have reminded their readership that the extreme-right NPD [the far right party Alex W supported] had secured 5.1% of the votes in council elections in Saxony in June 2008. Dresden, where the murder took place, is the capital of Saxony.

‘They could have reminded their readers that nearly 50% of east Germans and a quarter of west Germans agree with xenophobic statements – as a study by the Friedrich Ebert trust found in 2008. The journalists could have written about the poor integration of Russian-Germans, but also about their racism. They could have asked if Marwa would have been killed had she not worn a headscarf… and what that means for German society. They could have asked – as an Egyptian did – why Marwa’s husband, while he was trying to help his wife, was shot and wounded by a policeman in the courtroom. Because he was not blond-haired?

‘And the journalists could have asked why the spokeswoman of the court, in her first press release, did not mention the nationality and religion of the victim – which in this special case played a significant role in the murder.’

Axel Koehler, president of the German Central Council of Muslims, said the Council was “following the trial with great interest, in particular because our women and girls are afraid and already feel discriminated against.”