Jewish community criticizes sentence against man who stabbed rabbi in Frankfurt

FRANKFURT, Germany — A 23 year-old German man of Afghan origin was sentenced to three-and-half years in prison on Tuesday for attacking a rabbi with a knife in the centre of Frankfurt in September 2007.

Prosecutors had sought four years prison.

Sajed Aziz stabbed Rabbi Zalman Gurevitch, co-director of the Chabad-Lubavitch community in Frankfurt, in the lower abdomen while he was walking home from his synagogue with two friends. Witnesses said the attacker shouted “Bloody Jew, I’m going to kill you.”

The rabbi received emergency surgery but his injuries were not life-threatening.

Aziz, described as an unemployed troubled young immigrant with a history of minor offences,conceded stabbing Gurevitch on September 7 but called it self-defense, saying the rabbi had grabbed him by the collar.

He denied shouting racist insults.

Judge Klaus Drescher said there was not enough evidence to support the original charge of attempted manslaughter. The court said testimony did not show that Aziz intended to kill the man, though Drescher noted that he clearly called Gurevitch, 43, a “Shit Jew” and a “Jewish pig.”

Two important witnesses, the man and the woman who had been walking with rabbi Gurevitch, refused to attend the trial because they feared for their safety.

The Central Council of Jews in Germany had said the Frankfurt attack was the result of Muslim radicals creating a climate of hatred and breeding violence.

The attack had raised concerns about an increase in xenophobic and anti-Semitic crime in Germany.

Aziz’s lawyers said they would not appeal the ruling.

Gurevitch was a co-plaintiff in the trial and had demanded a manslaughter verdict.

His lawyer, Rolf Doering, said he would probably appeal against the verdict because he believed the court had understimated the threat posed by the defendant.

“After a verdict like this Frankfurt has become more unsafe for Jews,” said Moshe Mendelzon, who attended the trial with a group of young orthodox Jews to support the rabbi.

The president of Frankfurt Jewish community, Salomon Korn, criticized the sentence for being “too lenient.” “The court has given a clear message to potential stabbers,” he told the press.

“I wonder if this would have been the sentence if there had been a religiously tinged attack on a Christian clergyman,” he said.

Around 8,000 Jews live in Frankfurt.

As is usual in Germany, Aziz will not be required to serve the sentence until possible appeals have been decided. He was thus freed Tuesday on bail.