LONDON — British police on Monday charged a 25-year-old Ukrainian man with the terror-related murder of a Muslim grandfather in Birmingham, central England.
Ukrainian man charged with terrorist murder of elderly Muslim man in central England
July 22, 2013 at 5:35PM
West Midlands Police said Pavlo Lapshyn, a post-graduate student working in Britain, was charged Monday with the murder of 82-year-old Mohammed Saleem.
Saleem was stabbed to death as he walked home from a Birmingham mosque on April 29. Police initially were unable to discover a motive.
Lapshyn was arrested last week after home-made bombs exploded outside three mosques near Birmingham. No one was injured. Police say Lapshyn is still being questioned about those attacks.
The explosions came amid heightened religious tensions after the death of Lee Rigby, a British soldier who was killed by alleged Islamic extremists on a London street in May.
Police said detectives did not believe there was any ongoing threat from the case, and were working with Ukrainian officials to learn more about Lapshyn's past.
A 22-year-old Ukrainian man who was also arrested in connection with the mosque blasts has been released without charge.
about the writer
In interviews with the Star Tribune, Ryan described life before and after the Russian invasion in the country, where she’s worked to secure the border and help refugees flee war-torn areas.
