Killer of 'headscarf martyr' in dock
Updated on 26 October 2009
The trial of a man accused of murdering a pregnant Egyptian woman in a German court room begins today, in a case that has incensed many in the Muslim world. James Blake reports.
Alex W, as he has been named to ward off reprisal attacks, is alleged to have stabbed the pregnant 31-year-old woman, Marwa el-Sherbini 18 times in July, after being fined for insulting her while she was in a children's playground with her three-year-old son.
The killing took place in a court in Dresden where the alleged attacker was appealing a conviction for insulting Sherbini by allegedly calling her an "Islamist", "terrorist" and "slut" when she asked him to make room for her son to play on swings in a playground.
The 28-year-old killer also stabbed Sherbini's husband. German police then shot the husband in the leg, having mistaken him for the attacker.
Sherbini's death has led to protests in Egypt, Iran and Turkey, where German officials have been accused of being too slow to react to the killing.
Germany, which has the second-biggest Muslim population in western Europe after France, was criticised for taking days to condemn the murder.
Security is tight for the trial of Sherbini's attacker, a German of Russian origin, to guard against any outbreak of violence.
About 200 police officers secured the court in the eastern city of Dresden and the accused sat behind bulletproof glass, a police spokesman said. "This trial is seen as having a higher than usual security risk," the spokesman added.
Media in Islamic countries have given broad coverage to the death of Sherbini, describing the veiled woman as a "martyr".
