CAIRO: “My sister was slain to death, Tarek Al-Sherbini told Daily News Egypt in a phone interview of the murder of his sister Marwa in Germany. “It’s simply, inconceivable.
Al-Sherbini said that the due legal procedures started on Monday, as the lawyers in Germany were not working on Saturday and Sunday. “We will sue that man for murder.
Marwa was stabbed to death in a German court when she was going to present evidence against her assailant in an appeal case. The court had previously awarded her compensation after the assailant, who was also her neighbor, called her a “terrorist for wearing the Muslim headscarf.
Mostafa Okaz, orphaned at the age of three after watching his mother being stabbed to death, should be returning to Egypt in a couple of days, according to Al-Sherbini.
The young boy’s mother was laid to rest at Borg Al-Arab burial site, and his father remains in critical condition in a German hospital. Tarek stresses that Mostafa will be well taken care of in Egypt. “We are all one family, and he will surely find a place to stay.
Marwa Al-Sherbini’s husband, Elwi Ali Okaz, was trying to defend his wife’s at the Dresden courtroom, when he received several stabs himself, before being shot in the foot by mistake by courtroom security. Tarek Al-Sherbini told Egyptian television, “The guard looked around, and saw that Elwi is not white and blonde [and concluded that] he must be the bad guy.
The husband slipped into a coma shortly after the attack. But according to Tarek, he is now awake, though “barely holding on.
Marwa’s aggravated parents are finding it hard to cope with their loss. “They are distraught, Tarek told Daily News Egypt, “May God be with us all.
Thousands of internet users have expressed their sympathy with the Islamophobia victim. The Egyptian blogosphere is filled with cries of outrage and dismay at the shocking murder. Facebook users have also shown profound concern; with a total of 10 groups appearing to commemorate Marwa.
During her funeral on Monday, thousands took to the streets to mourn her death; some shouting, “There is no god but Allah, and the Germans are the enemies of Allah.
Tarek is grateful for the massive support the Egyptian public has shown. “The Egyptian people have given us the biggest support.
However, he can’t say the same about the government’s response.
“The Egyptian government is not doing anything more than it has to, he sadly admitted. “Their reaction is merely proportionate to the size of the incident.
Meanwhile, Christian Avenarius, the prosecutor in Dresden where the incident took place, said the murder was “very clearly a xenophobic attack of a fanatical lone wolf.
Aiman Mazyek, general secretary of the Central Council of Muslims, told Berlin’s Tagesspiegel daily that “The incident in Dresden had anti-Islamic motives.
