Right(s): the crime against Marwa El-Sherbini

On 1 July 2009, Marwa El-Sherbini was stabbed by a violent islamophobic criminal in the District Court of Dresden. A federal policeman rushing towards the scene fired at El-Sherbini’s husband Elwy Ali Okaz, who was wrestling with the attacker for the weapon. The husband only barely survived the excessive violence. Marwa El-Sherbini died from her injuries.

How could such a bloodbath happen? And in what way is the justice system responsible for this? Was it really the case that ‘no one could have guessed that the attacker was capable of such a crime’, as was officially stated by the authorities? Or is the range of experience within the justice system simply inadequate to properly assess the danger of right-wing and racist violence to which victims of it are exposed? The work ‘Right(s): the crime against Marwa El-Sherbini’ attempts to unpick the layers of meaning surrounding El-Sherbini’s homicide. The story is being reexamined in order to track down previously unheard facts.

Funded by the City of Munich’s Department of Arts and Culture.

The idea for Right(s): the crime against Marwa El-Sherbini came about during Güvendiren’s directing studies at the Otto Falckenberg School.

The performances of ‘Right(s) – the crime against Marwa El-Sherbini’ will be featured as part of the RODEO Festival.