Dresden, Germany - Admitting that he stabbed an Egyptian woman to death in a German courtroom, the accused man, Alex W, denied in Dresden on Wednesday that his motivation had been racist. The admission was read in court by his lawyer, Veikko Bartel. The trial is being closely followed in the Islamic world.
"I can't even understand any more why I committed this crime," W, aged 28, said, adding that the attack had not been pre-meditated.
He denied his racist views had prompted him to attack Marwa al- Sherbini, a pregnant pharmacist, but said it had been rather a feeling that he had been unfairly treated by the German justice system. Just after the killing he had felt sorry.
W, a German of Russian origin, is accused of stabbing to death al- Shirbini, 31, during a July 1 appeal hearing after he had already been ordered to pay a fine for insulting the headscarf- wearing mother at a children's playground in 2008.
The court has been told W often expressed hate for non-Germans. The trial has aroused strong emotions in Egypt, where the case has made front-page news.
He had called al-Shirbini a "terrorist" and a "slut" when they first met in August 2008, after she asked him to move from a child's swing which her young son wanted to use in a Dresden public playground.
