Frankfurt, Germany: German Muslim stands trial for an attack on a rabbi

Sajed Aziz, a 23-year-old German Muslim, who attacked an orthodox rabbi with a knife in September 2007, has told the Frankfurt state court that he acted in self-defense.

He testified on the first day of his trial that he and the rabbi Zalman Gurevitch, 43, first had a verbal exchange on a street in Frankfurt. Then the rabbi grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and shouted at him. The rabbi, who suffered serious wounds, told authorities at the time of the attack that Aziz said “I’ll kill you, you Jew” and then pulled a knife and stabbed him in the stomach. Sajed Aziz has denied that the attack had an antisemitic motive.

On May 20, the Frankfurt regional court sentenced Sajed Aziz to 3 1/2 years in prison for attacking Zalman Gurevitch with a knife.

Two important witnesses who attested to the attack on the rabbi could not appear in court. Both of them are Jewish and do not live in Germany. They told the court that they fear for their security in Germany. The judge, Klaus Drescher, said that their fear is “baseless”.

Source: Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung, 04-11-2008, Zeit online, 05-20-2008

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