According to Cairo based newsagency Bikya Masr Germany should know that a lot is riding on the verdict handed down to Alex W. on Wednesday. Anything less than a life sentence will leave Egypt, the Arab world and human rights advocates angered. And it will put Germany in a position it has tried so vehemently to remove from the stigma of being German. They have their own historical weight to deal with, so there is no need to add another Diaspora to fear the German (more).

The killing of Sherbini, a pharmacist who was three months pregnant, stirred outrage in the Muslim world, especially in her native Egypt. Many accused German authorities of lax security and for not adequately protecting its minority Muslim population from a new wave of hatred against Arabs.