page_title: Murder of Marwa El-Sherbini
section_title: Public commemoration
hierarchical_section_title: Murder of Marwa El-Sherbini / German media and public reaction to the crime / Public commemoration
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Marwa El Sherbini Denkmal „18 Stiche“ auf dem Theaterplatz vor der Semperoper in Dresden English: Marwa El Sherbini memorial “18 knife stabs” in front of the Semperoper in Dresden
context_page_description: Marwa Ali El-Sherbini, was an Egyptian woman and German resident who was killed in 2009 during an appeal hearing at a court of law in Dresden, Germany. She was stabbed by Alex Wiens, an ethnic German immigrant from Russia against whom she had testified in a criminal case for verbal abuse. El-Sherbini's husband, who was present at the hearing, tried to intervene. He too was repeatedly stabbed by Wiens and was then mistakenly shot and wounded by a police officer who was called to the court room. Wiens was arrested at the crime scene and subsequently tried for murder and attempted murder. He was found guilty of both charges; it was also found that Wiens's actions constituted a heinous crime, because they were committed in front of a child, against two people, in a court of law, and fulfilled the murder criterion of treacherousness, such as hatred against foreigners. Wiens was sentenced to life imprisonment.
  The death of El-Sherbini immediately resulted in international reactions, with the most vocal responses coming from predominantly Muslim nations.
context_section_description: On 6 July 2009, about 2,000 Muslims of the Egyptian community and other nationalities in Germany held funeral prayers for El-Sherbini, in Dar Al-Salam Mosque, in Berlin. Five days later a public memorial was organized by civil rights groups in Dresden; it was attended by more than 1,000 people, including the Egyptian ambassador and officials from the state of Saxony; white roses and photos of El-Sherbini and her family were placed outside Dresden City Hall. About the same time, the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, where El-Sherbini's husband researches, issued a statement on the occasion of the official ceremony, expressing shock and sympathy. This was preceded by the Max Planck Society having strongly condemned the attack on 8 July, by stating: "The fact that the attack was racially motivated is especially distressing to us, considering that the Max Planck Society is a scientific research organisation with staff members from the most various nations."
  In December 2009, the Ministry of Justice in Saxony announced plans to commemorated the death of El-Sherbini with a memorial plaque in the regional court building. This plaque will state both in German and Arabic language: "[Marwa El-Sherbini] She fell victim to Islamophobia and xenophobia. With dignity and commendable moral courage she withstood this."
  In July 2010, one year after the murder, an association of local citizens organised a memorial art installation across Dresden, to commemorate the loss of life caused by the heinous crime and as a symbol against racism in everyday life. Eighteen concrete stelae in form of knives were temporary displayed in different public places, to represent the eighteen knife stab wounds that were inflicted on the victim. Some of the stelae were vandalised during the display.
  In October 2012, a scholarship in memory of Marwa El-Sherbini was awarded for the first time. It is jointly funded by the city administration of Dresden and the state government of Saxony. The Marwa El-Sherbini Stipendium für Weltoffenheit und Toleranz aims at developing future leaders who support freedom, democracy, and human rights. It is awarded to postgraduate students enrolled at an institution of higher education in Dresden.
caption: Memorial art installation "Eighteen knife stabs" July 2010, Theaterplatz (Dresden) [de]
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