ISRAEL: Jerusalem Pride Killer Ruled Fit To Stand Trial

The Jerusalem Pride killer has been found mentally competent and will stand trial.  The Jerusalem Post reports:

Following a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, Yishai Schlissel – who killed a teenage girl and seriously wounded five others in a stabbing rampage at Jerusalem’s annual Gay Pride Parade last month – was on Thursday deemed fit to stand trial. The decision was made after Schlissel was examined by a court-appointed psychiatrist during a 48-hour detention at a psychiatric hospital. A previous psychiatric evaluation was inconclusive. Schlissel, 50, who is ultra-Orthodox and from Modi’in Illit in the West Bank, was released from prison three weeks before the July 30 attack after serving 10 years of a 12-year sentence for committing a similar crime at the 2005 Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade. Since his arrest, he has refused representation and rejected the state’s authority. His youngest victim, Shira Banki, 16, died of her wounds. The five other victims sustained serious-to-moderate wounds and are expected to recover.

Israeli police units have blamed each other for failing to track Schlissel after he was released from prison just weeks before the attack. Schlissel had been paroled after serving a ten year sentence for a similar attack on Jerusalem Pride 2005. Immediately upon his release he began leafleting in an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood, demanding support for stopping this year’s parade.