Yishai Schlissel also indicted on six counts of attempted murder for July rampage.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBUpdated: AUGUST 25, 2015 04:59Yishai Schlissel arrested after stabbing six people at the Jerusalem gay pride parade(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office on Monday filed an indictment with the Jerusalem District Court against Yishai Schlissel for murder and six counts of attempted murder in the July 30 stabbing attack the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade.The stabbings horrified the country, garnered rare across-the-board condemnation from even major Orthodox religious figures, and drew international attention due to its ferocity and the footage of the attacks.Religious assailant stabs six at Jerusalem Gay Pride marchSchlissel, who was previously imprisoned for 10 years for stabbing three people at the 2005 Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade, was arrested in the midst of allegedly going on a stabbing rampage at the parade, just three weeks after being released from prison, killing 16-year-old Shira Banki and wounding six others.The six wounded persons were named as: Yarden Navei, Kfir Gil, Noam Eyal, Yael Belkin, Sagiv Satkolshtick, and Sheli Bar Niv.The indictment states that, leading up to the parade, Schlissel had called on ultra-Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem and Modi’in Illit to take action against the parade.On the day of the parade, Schlissel purchased a 15-centimeter-long kitchen knife for the purpose of stabbing participants at the parade, according to the indictment.The indictment said further that Schlissel’s first attempt at infiltrating the parade was stopped by policewomen, and that his stabbing spree occurred on his second attempt to infiltrate the parade from a different street.On August 5, the court ordered a psychiatric evaluation of Schlissel to determine whether he is mentally competent to stand trial. The examining psychiatrist found him to be sane, despite his alleged spree of violence and his attempt not to cooperate with the evaluation.Schlissel has repeatedly told the court that he does not recognize its authority and he has refused to be represented by an attorney. Public defenders have tried to convince Schlissel to change his position, but he has refused.At the August 5 hearing, when the court gave Schlissel another chance at being represented by a public defender, he answered, “I am not interested in being represented. You have no authority to judge. This [the hearing] is not in accordance with the holy Torah. I don’t want to take part in this illegal show, not by myself and not through any representative.”