Dresden- A psychologist briefed German judges behind closed doors Thursday on the mental state of Alex W, the xenophobic unemployed man who killed an Egyptian woman and wounded her husband with a knife in a Dresden courtroom in July. The stabbing death of pharmacist Marwa al-Shirbini, 31, pregnant with her second child, caused outrage in Egypt.
Agreeing to a defence request, presiding judge Birgit Wiegand ordered the media and the public to leave the court, because W had a right to privacy over intimate matters that were not directly the subject of the murder and attempted murder charges.
He faces life jail if convicted.
A summary of the court psychologist's written report has already been made public. It says W, aged 28, is legally sane.
W, who was born and raised in Russia, knifed headscarf-clad al- Shirbini in front of judges as she testified that he had insulted her with the words "Islamist," "terrorist" and "slut" during a 2008 argument on a Dresden children's playground.
Wiegand said W had a right to keep parts of the psychology report out of the public domain, since his personality, intimate life and mental state were under debate.
The defence lawyer, Michael Sturm, said, "A person's psychological constitution is the most intimate item of the right to privacy."
On Wednesday, W had admitted in a written statement that he hated foreigners but denied this was his motivation when he attacked al- Shirbini. He said he was infuriated at the justice system. He did not apologize and did not speak other than to say yes and no.
