Justice served

The killer of Marwa El-Sherbini will go behind bars. Doaa El-Bey looks at the sentence and reactions

---

Alex Wiens, a Russian-born German, was sentenced to life behind bars Wednesday for the brutal murder of Egyptian pharmacist Marwa El-Sherbini in a court in Dresden in a stunning attack that happened right in front of the presiding judge, El-Sherbini's husband and their three-year-old son.

Wiens, who was found guilty in the same court, was motionless as the verdict was read. Throughout most the trial his head and face were covered by a hooded top and a cap. He declined a request by the judge to remove them in the first session, forcing the judge to fine him 50 euros.

Khaled Abu Bakr, the defence lawyer, hailed the sentence as a victory for justice, and described it as the start of a number of sentences in three other pending lawsuits. He explained that the defence filed four suits -- the first, which was concluded Wednesday, was against Wiens; the second against the court guard who accidentally shot El-Sherbini's husband, mistaking him for the assailant; the third against the president of the Dresden court who did not put in place enough security measures to prevent the convict from entering the court with a knife; and the fourth against the judge who presided over the session during which El-Sherbini was killed.

"We held a meeting with officials from the German prosecution today [Thursday] and urged them to take measures in the three other suits. Without their conclusion, the defence will not achieve the justice it is seeking," Abu Bakr told Al-Ahram Weekly.

Wiens was also found guilty of attempted murder and causing bodily harm to El-Sherbini's husband, Elwi Okaz.

The Dresden court said in the ruling that because of the particularly brutal nature of the crime, Wiens would not be eligible for early release. A 15-year sentence is the maximum possible jail term a defendant can get in a German court.

It is not likely that the court will accept an appeal if Wiens decides to do so. Abu Bakr said that although it is Wiens' legal right to appeal, there is no justification for the court to accept it.

Egypt's Ambassador to Germany Ramzi Ezzedin Ramzi welcomed the verdict, describing it as "correct" and "appropriate". "It was the maximum sentence that we could get," he told the Weekly.

Ezzedin or a staff member from the embassy attended all the sessions in order to monitor developments in the trial as requested by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry.

The embassy recommended the best lawyers in Germany for Okaz, who chose "one of the largest law firms in Berlin and we paid the expenses," he added.

The trial centred on Wiens' motives for the murder and whether the defendant was consumed by a hatred of foreigners. When he verbally attacked El-Sherbini in their first meeting in a playground, he called her "Islamist"' and a "'terrorist".

Although Wiens admitted in a statement read by his lawyer to being hostile to foreigners, he denied it was the motive behind the attack.

The case is thought to act as a catalyst in urging Muslims, especially officials living abroad, to work more to improve the image of Islam in the West. Ramzi said this is what the Egyptian Embassy in Berlin and elsewhere is trying to do. All embassies belonging to Islamic states in the West are trying to explain the nature and essence of Islam to the West.

"We focus on important issues like migration, integration and tolerance in joint efforts with other states, either on bilateral or multilateral levels," he said.

However, Ramzi added El-Sherbini's case "will make us intensify what we have already been doing," saying that while all the involved parties are in cooperation mode, the road is long and no quick results are expected.

The first encounter between Wiens and El-Sherbini occurred in July 2008 in a Dresden playground. El-Sherbini asked Wiens to vacate a swing for her son. Her request was met with an attack against her as an Islamist and terrorist. She pressed charges for verbal abuse. Wiens was fined ê780.

In the appeal session in July, Wiens stabbed El-Sherbini 16 times in court and stabbed her husband who had rushed to her aid. A court guard, who mistook El-Sherbini's husband for the attacker, shot her husband instead.

El-Sherbini, who was also three months pregnant at the time of the attack, was dubbed in Egypt as the "veiled martyr" because of a widespread believe that Wiens attacked her because she was wearing a veil.