TIME: Dozens of reporters from Germany, Egypt and other Muslim countries packed into a Dresden courtroom last week to hear the verdict against the Russian émigré accused of stabbing to death a pregnant Egyptian woman who's since been dubbed the "headscarf martyr" by much of the Arab world. It was a far cry from the attention the killing itself received in July — the crime was scarcely reported by the German media, leading to massive protests in Egypt and the Middle East.
That Alex Wiens was convicted of murdering Marwa el-Sherbini and sentenced to life in prison was not surprising — el-Sherbini was stabbed in front of numerous eyewitnesses in a dramatic attack just after she finished giving testimony in the same Dresden courthouse where Wiens was tried. His trial seemed a mere formality. It was nonetheless closely watched by Germany's 4 million Muslims, as well as the wider Muslim world, as a way of gauging how serious Germany was about confronting what Muslims see as a rising tide of Islamophobia and racism in the country.
The crime was shocking as much for Wiens' brutality as for his brazenness. During the trial, prosecutors said el-Sherbini, 31, was attacked after giving testimony against Wiens in a defamation case — el-Sherbini had accused Wiens of calling her an "Islamist" and a "terrorist" on a playground after she asked him to make way so her son could play on the swings. As she finished testifying, Wiens suddenly lunged at her with a kitchen knife he had smuggled into court and stabbed her 16 times. Her husband, Elwy Okaz, 32, was also repeatedly stabbed before being shot by a police officer who mistook him for el-Sherbini's attacker. El-Sherbini, who was three months pregnant at the time, bled to death in front of the couple's 3-year-old son. >>> Tristana Moore, Berlin | Monday, November 16, 2009
