Jerusalem - The ultra-Orthodox Jew accused of stabbing six people at a Gay Pride march in Jerusalem just weeks after his release from jail for a similar attack lashed out in Israeli court Friday, local media reported.
“I do not accept this court's authority,” said a defiant Yishai Shlissel, representing himself at a hearing.
“This court is part of the mechanism of evil,” Haaretz newspaper's website quoted him as saying. “I have no interest in cooperating at all. I do not recognise any of the regime's institutions.”
Police said the suspect's detention was extended for 12 days while investigations continue into Thursday night's attack in which a man in ultra-Orthodox garb stormed the parade with a knife.
The suspect was quickly arrested amid pandemonium in Jerusalem's city centre, but the parade and its hundreds of marchers pushed ahead defiantly, even with blood on the road.
A 17-year-old woman was reported in serious condition while a 26-year-old man was stable, Haaretz said. Four others had light to moderate injuries.
Shlissel was released from jail three weeks ago after having served a 10-year sentence for wounding three marchers in an attack on a Gay Pride parade in 2005.
Media reported that Shlissel had posted a letter on the Internet speaking of the “abomination” of a Gay Pride parade being held in the Holy City.
Television also broadcast extracts of an interview he was said to have given to a radio station earlier this month in which he said “the fight continues against those who defile” God.
AFP