Man who stabbed Egyptian is sane, psychologist tells court (Roundup)

Nov 5, 2009, 17:04 GMT

   Dresden - The xenophobic unemployed man who killed an Egyptian woman and wounded her husband with a knife in a Dresden courtroom in July cannot plead insanity as an excuse, a psychologist told his murder trial Thursday.

The death of pharmacist Marwa al-Shirbini, 31, pregnant with her second child, caused outrage in Egypt. Many Egyptians believe al-Shirbini was killed because she wore a head-scarf.

   The media and public were sent out of the court while Stephan Sutarski, a psychologist who has interviewed 28-year-old W, briefed judges for five hours.

Lawyers said later that W lowered a hood he had been wearing and answered questions while the media were gone.

This was the first time he had actively involved himself in the trial, where he has drawn the hood of his sweater over his head and stared at the floor on the days the media and public were present.

Prosecutor Frank Heinrich later told reporters the essentials of the report.

W had no symptoms of mental disease at the time of the killing, nor was his ability to understand and control his actions diminished, according to the consultant. W faces life imprisonment if convicted.

Oliver Wallasch, representing al-Shirbini's husband, added that the consultant had said there was no evidence W had been in an unconscious state when he flew across the room, stabbed the pharmacist and fought with her husband who was trying to save her.

   Presiding judge Birgit Wiegand ordered the briefing to take place behind closed doors because W had a right to privacy over intimate matters that were not directly the subject of the murder and attempted murder charges.

   She confirmed 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 said he was sorry he had ruined his own life, but did not apologize.

That courtroom encounter was an appeal hearing after W had been fined for calling insulting her with the words 'Islamist,' 'terrorist' and 'slut' during a 2008 argument on a Dresden children's playground.