"Veil martyr" sentence

The Russian-born German man who has confessed to stabbing a pregnant Egyptian woman to death in a Dresden courtroom last July is due to be sentenced on Wednesday. Prosecutors say the attack was racially motivated.

Alex W., 28, who stabbed Marwa al-Sherbini more than 16 times, with an 18-centimeter (seven-inch) kitchen knife in front of her husband and three-year-old son, now faces life imprisonment.

The defendant refutes the claim he was driven by anti-Islamic sentiment.

"It is true that I am hostile to foreigners but that was not the motive," W. said in a statement read by one of his lawyers on November 4.

However, prosecutors have argued that he was driven "by an overwhelming, unbridled hatred of foreigners."

The chief prosecutor, Frank Heinrich, told the court on Monday that W., who he said had thrown himself upon his victim like a "maniac", had offered "not one word" of contrition for his brutal act. " The accused planned the act in cold blood," Heinrich added. He has called for a life sentence for W., with no possibility of easy parole.

"Veil martyr"

Marwa al-Sherbini was dubbed the "veil martyr" by Arab media, after her murder sparked outrage across the Muslim world - especially in her native Egypt and Iran - for what many people there perceived as a tepid reaction by German officials and the media.

Sherbini was murdered in July 2009 at an appeal hearing for a defamation case against W.

The Russian-born German had been fined 780 euros (1,160 dollars) after calling Sherbini an "Islamist", a "terrorist", and a "whore" at a local playground.

In addition to the murder of Sherbini, W. is also charged with the attempted murder of Sherbini's husband, Elwy Okaz, who was stabbed multiple times when he raced to the side of his wife, who was three months pregnant with their second child.

Okaz was also shot in the leg by a guard who confused him for the attacker.

The verdict is scheduled for Wednesday but there could be a delay due to the arrival of a document from Russia which apparently confirms reports that W. was exempted from Russian military service in 2000 as he suffered from schizophrenia. A psychologist who had earlier described W. as sane will appear in court on Tuesday to comment on the document.

vj/AFP/dpa

Editor: Susan Houlton