Egypt welcomed the sentence of life in prison -- the maximum penalty for murder under German law -- for the man convicted of stabbing to death a pregnant Egyptian woman who was testifying against him in court.
The death of Marwa al Sherbini in a German courtroom in July enraged and captivated Muslims, particularly Egyptians, many of whom blame Germany for fueling an anti-Muslim climate there. But the stiff sentence handed down Wednesday by a German judge earned praise from many Egyptians who described the ruling as just and impartial.
"We are very satisfied with the verdict," Ramzy Ezzedin Ramzy, Egypt's ambassador to Berlin, told the Times of London. "The maximum sentence was demanded and the maximum sentence was awarded."
The case began last year on a Dresden playground when Sheribini asked Alexander Wiens, a Russian of ethnic German origin, to move from a swing so her 3-year-old son could use it. Wiens started to scream at Sherbini, who was wearing a headscarf, and accused her of being an Islamist and a terrorist. Sherbini pressed charges of slander against Wiens, who received a fine. He appealed and sought to bring the case before a judge.
Sherbini was three months pregnant when the case came to court. She was accompanied by her husband, a microbiologist, and their young son. Inside the courtroom, Wiens took a long knife from under his jacket and stabbed Sherbini 18 times, according to news accounts. Her husband was stabbed 16 times while trying to stop the attack.
Things got even worse when a security officer responding to the scene misread what was happening and shot the husband instead of Wiens. The husband was wounded, but survived. Sherbini's 3-year-old son witnessed the grisly episode. As news of the murder spread, Muslims held protests in Germany and elsewhere in Europe and the Middle East.
Al Arabiya interviewed Sherbini's relatives in Egypt, who told the channel they were satisfied with the life sentence for Wiens. However, they also demanded punishment for the security officer and the judge, saying the men shared in the responsibility for failing to protect Sherbini inside a court of law. Her father, Ali al Sherbini, told Arabiya: "My phone didn't stop ringing once the verdict was issued. People congratulated us and praised God for having mercy on her."
Sherbini's case became a rallying point for proponents of the veil, which is worn by the majority of Egyptian women but remains a controversial topic throughout the Islamic world. Because she was killed while defending her right to practice Islam, many clerics deemed her a "martyr." The Western press took to calling her the "veil martyr" in headlines.
Muslim governments seized on the incendiary case to make political points. Perhaps the most noteworthy was Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a tense interview with Katie Couric. Couric was pressing Ahmadinejad on the highly publicized death of a young Iranian activist, and he fired back by producing a photo of Sherbini. He asked Couric if he knew who the woman in the photo was.
Couric didn't know, and Ahmadinejad used the moment as an illustration of the Western media's double standards. You can read the details of the interview here.
How ironic of the Eqyptian Muslims. It is okay for them to kill a woman who wronged the family, okay to kill any Muslim who changed religion, okay to stone somebody to death, okay to kill a shite or sunni if you arn't of that branch of the family, but how dare a westener kill a Muslim.
Posted by: mfellion | November 16, 2009 at 07:52 PM
Kudos to you mfellion. You hear a woman is raped and she gets stoned to death but what of the offender? Nothing happens to him. How does she dishonor the family when she had NO defense against the rapist. Unbelievable double standards.
Posted by: Heidi Wollenweber | November 17, 2009 at 02:26 PM
it's about the law, can you stop trying to make this some religious discussion. he killed the lady regardless what her religion is and he got punished. are you upset he wasn't let go you two ignorant individuals?
Posted by: hh | November 17, 2009 at 11:43 PM
mfellion & heidi, first, i'd like to point out that your ignorance pertaining to the muslim religion really hinders your ability to substantially justify any of your points.
the second you brought religion into the argument, you lost all legitimacy, for you're falling into the commonly misconceived trap that often times blurs the line between RELIGION and culture/government. it's unfortunate that a lot of governments in the middle east may treat their women in a fashion we deem morally wrong, however, this has nothing to do with their religion. if you looked into the matter more thoroughly you wouldn't make assumptions based on such a misconception.
and it's people like you, mfellion, that fuel the very fire that's burning through this world and filling it with hate and ignorance. rather than attempting to further define the line between "muslims" and "westerners," you should be acknowledging the fact that we are all human. we all deserve to be treated and respected equally.
just a history lesson: these "westerners" you hold at such a high stature are the very people that burned, lynched, KILLED people of different races, cultures, ethnicity's, and sexes to get them where they are today. BUT do you see "muslims" dwelling on their mistakes? do you see them associating the christian religion to the massacres and the lynchings and the millions of people who had their land stolen from them (native americans)?
unfortunately, muslims have specific individuals representing them that have given the world a reason to attach such a negative stigma to the religion. however, these "terrorists" are not muslim. they hide behind this religion in an attempt to justify the immoral acts they've done.
maybe you should pay the innocent muslims who unfortunately have this stigma attached to them some respect, before you go around
"blogging" to other people who may not have the means necessary to decide for themselves whether or not what you're saying is inherently true.
thanks for you time :)
i apologize for any grammatical errors, it's a little late and i'm tired.
Posted by: zsabbagh | November 18, 2009 at 12:11 AM
Zsabbagh, You are idealistic. Religion marks most cultural objects of antiquity, so it's hard to say there is a separation of religion from culture /government.
I would agree with you if you wanted limited discussion about the tragedy of this family. It's a small consolation the idiot has justice coming to himself. But, you are not limiting yourself to this either.
The evil acts you mention, how can one know evil without a moral argument? It is impossible without a religious basis.
Deep questions, most are not willing to spend time on. To better understand life, I think one should. A good collection of informative essays on this topic, is by Os Guinness entitled "Unspeakable". He shares his experience and intelligent- common sense to understand and deal with the difference between evil and human suffering.
As far as arguing with the others~ Their argument is valid (as is yours) about a prevalent mindset which is not a simple misconception, but a conception that is observed. It's true, the West is not different in natural outcomes of war and evil. But there does exist more freedom to express oneself without the fear from religious bigots or zealots like in the East. In the West, because we are isolated from personal confrontation, due to our laws, some evil begins with statements like: "in our time and place, with such highly educated and civil understanding we will not ever have to repeat these acts again..." Words spoken in equal ignorance creating a destiny for evil to thrive. History itself proves the evidence to man's evil ability. Bullies and tyrants will always be with us, it's in man. Some use religion, others use humanism for a platform. That is why we must understand the nature of evil, to better fight it(but, let's choose the turf). Don't give in or give up. Life is a struggle. Some deal with it better (some days). I pray God's abundant blessings on you and your family.
Posted by: Jim Dean | November 23, 2009 at 02:37 AM
I agree with most of what everyone has been posting, but there's one thing you fail to take into consideration-THAT THERE IS NO GOD, just hope/scare tactics to make humans govern themselves better-"A set of rules," if you will. It is not right to hate someone because of your lack of understanding. Wiens deserves the max sentence for killing another human, no matter what her race or religion. Virgins waiting for you in the afterlife? Yeah right. Golden gates in heaven? Id rather look forward to Golden Arches and a BigMac, since I know that is real.Or maybe a sacred cow will take me across the Ganges River into the afterlife? My point is, every religion has things that dont make sense. Again,we dont have to hate what we dont understand. All we can do is live and love everyone. Instead of trying to please everyone all the time, we need to respect the people who think differently and want to VOICE their OPINION without hurting anyone (like Im doing now) Those of you who read this and get angry, my point is proven. To you, I guess ignorance is bliss. We, as a race, the HUMAN RACE, need to light(en) up and burn the finest Kush. Pres. Obama, free the weed, legalize marijuana. And free Marc Emery!
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