An Israeli court sentenced an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man to life in prison for stabbing participants at a Jerusalem Gay Pride parade, killing a 16-year-old girl and wounding others.
The Jerusalem District Court convicted Yishai Schlissel in April of murder and six counts of attempted murder over the July 2015 stabbings. He was sentenced to life plus 31 years, a court statement said.
The incident triggered harsh criticism of the police when it emerged that Schlissel had been released from prison only three weeks earlier after serving a 10-year sentence for a similar attack.
He had also posted a letter on the Internet speaking of the “abomination” of a Gay Pride parade being held in the Holy City and the need to stop it, even at the cost of one’s life.
Many questioned how Schlissel, 40 when he was convicted, was allowed anywhere near the parade, which saw thousands marching through central Jerusalem.
Witnesses described terrifying scenes of Schlissel, dressed in the dark suit worn by ultra-Orthodox Jews, storming the parade with a knife.
