A light sentence in Germany.....

Gee, and witnesses were afraid to testify....

A 23 year-old German man of Afghan origin was sentenced to three-and-half years in prison on Tuesday for attacking a rabbi with a knife in the centre of Frankfurt in September 2007.
Prosecutors had sought four years prison.

Sajed Aziz stabbed Rabbi Zalman Gurevitch, co-director of the Chabad-Lubavitch community in Frankfurt, in the lower abdomen while he was walking home from his synagogue with two friends. Witnesses said the attacker shouted "Bloody Jew, I'm going to kill you."

The rabbi received emergency surgery but his injuries were not life-threatening.

Aziz, described as an unemployed troubled young immigrant with a history of minor offences,conceded stabbing Gurevitch on September 7 but called it self-defense, saying the rabbi had grabbed him by the collar.

He denied shouting racist insults.

Judge Klaus Drescher said there was not enough evidence to support the original charge of attempted manslaughter. The court said testimony did not show that Aziz intended to kill the man, though Drescher noted that he clearly called Gurevitch, 43, a “Shit Jew” and a "Jewish pig."

Two important witnesses, the man and the woman who had been walking with rabbi Gurevitch, refused to attend the trial because they feared for their safety.