Gay pride parade stabber arraigned, continues to reject court authority as unholy

Yishai Schlissel, who stabbed participants in the July Gay Pride Parade in the capital, was charged by the Jerusalem District Court on Monday with murder and six counts of attempted murder. The stabbings horrified the country, garnered across-the-board condemnation from Israeli society, including from Orthodox religious figures, and drew international attention due to the ferocity of the attack and the footage that emerged of it. Schlissel, who was previously imprisoned for 10 years for stabbing three people at the 2005 Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade, was arrested during the stabbing rampage, just weeks after being released from jail. He killed 16-year-old Shira Banki and wounded six others, who were named as Yarden Noy, Kfir Gil, Noam Eyal, Yael Belkin, Sagiv Satkolshtick and Sheli Bar Niv. At the arraignment, Schlissel continued to refuse to recognize the court's authority, stating “God, the creator of the world, did not give you authority to judge me, and so I am not interested in asking questions or responding to them.” When the court asked him to stand – as is customary when addressing the court – he refused, and stated, “I am not interested in getting up.” Despite Schlissel's continued refusal to agree to have the Public Defender's Office represent him, or to accept any legal representation, the court ordered the public defender present to continue to speak for him in court. Schlissel has refused legal representation since he considers that it would be an acknowledgment of the validity of the court proceedings against him. The court also read the indictment in spite of Schlissel's lack of interest in the proceedings. The indictment stated that leading up to the parade, Schlissel had called on ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem and Modi'in Illit to take action against it, and that on the day of the parade he purchased a 15 cm.-long kitchen knife for the purpose of stabbing participants. Schlissel's first attempt at infiltrating the parade was stopped by police. He managed to gain entry and launch the attack by joining it from a different street.

Gay pride parade stabber arraigned, continues to reject court authority as unholy

At the arraignment, Schlissel continued to refuse to recognize the court’s authority

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Gay pride parade stabber arraigned, continues to reject court authority as unholy

At the arraignment, Schlissel continued to refuse to recognize the court’s authority

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