Alex Wiens is led into the courtroom of the district court in Dresden, Germany, Tuesday, Nov. 10,... 
(Ralf Hirschberger/AP Photo)
A Russian-born German man was found guilty Wednesday of murder and sentenced to life in prison for fatally stabbing a pregnant Egyptian woman in court, an attack that triggered outrage in the Muslim world.
The Dresden state court said in its ruling that because of the particularly brutal nature of the crime defendant Alexander Wiens, 28, would not be eligible for early release.
During the trial, Wiens admitted stabbing Marwa al-Sherbini to death at a July 1 court hearing in Dresden. Wiens had argued, however, that his actions were not premeditated and that he had no xenophobic motivation. His attorneys had sought a lesser manslaughter conviction and said they would appeal the verdict.
Maria Boehmer, the German government official responsible for immigrant affairs, said the verdict was "an important signal for the people of Egypt and other parts of the Arab world."
"The message is: There is no place for xenophobia in our country," she said.
During a trip to London, German Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor Guido Westerwelle said he welcomed the conviction.
"It makes it very clear that violence, that racial intolerance and hatred, have no place in Germany," he told reporters at the Foreign Ministry.
Al-Sherbini, a 31-year-old pharmacist, was stabbed at least 16 times by Wiens in the Dresden courtroom where she was to testify against him. She had filed a complaint against him in 2008, accusing him of insulting her with racial slurs, calling her a "terrorist" and "Islamist" during an altercation.
Many German courts, including the one where the killing took place, have no security checks at their entrance. Prosecutors said the defendant used a kitchen knife with a 7-inch (18-centimeter) blade that he had brought into the courtroom in a backpack.
Her husband, a scientist conducting research in Dresden, was stabbed and suffered serious injuries when he intervened to protect her. The couple's 3-year-old son was in the courtroom and witnessed the attack.
Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.
