Man gets life for courtroom killing

DRESDEN, Germany, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- A Russian immigrant was given life in prison in Germany Wednesday for the court-room stabbing death of a pregnant Muslim woman who was testifying against him.

Alexander Wiens, 28, was sentenced by Judge Birgit Wiegand under tight security in Dresden for the slaying of Marwa al-Sherbini, a 31-year-old pharmacist, because the case inflamed emotions among many Arabs, The Times of London reported.

The courthouse was cleared and 200 armed police ringed the room to protect Wiens, who was the target of a fatwa, or death sentence, from enraged Muslims, the newspaper said.

Ramzy Ezzedin Ramzy, Egypt's ambassador to Berlin, said his government was satisfied with the outcome despite recent protests in some parts of the Arab world.

"The maximum sentence was demanded and the maximum sentence was awarded," Ramzy said.

Al-Sherbini ran afoul of Wiens in a Dresden park last year when she asked him to move from a child's swing so she could push her 3-year-old son, The Times said. Wiens, who emigrated from Siberia in 2003, started yelling at her, calling her a terrorist.

She pressed slander charges that led to his being fined. He appealed and while in court last July, he stabbed her 18 times. She was three months pregnant at the time.

Her husband, Elwy Okaz, a microbiologist, was stabbed 16 times and then was shot by a police officer who arrived and misunderstood the situation.

The couple's son witnessed the attack.