Red Square flier gets 2 1/2 yrs. in attack

BONN Mathias Rust, the young German who once dodged Sovietfighter jets to land his small plane in Moscow's Red Square, wassentenced Friday to 2 1/2 years in prison for stabbing a studentnurse.

Enraged by his light sentence for attempted manslaughter,spectators booed in the Hamburg courtroom as Rust, 23, broke into asmile.

Prosecutors had recommended at least eight years' imprisonmentfor Rust, who said "something inside just snapped" when he plunged aswitchblade into the abdomen of Stefanie Walura, 18, a co-worker whohad spurned his advances.

Under German law, both sides have a week to appeal the sentence.Rust remains free on his own recognizance until then.

"The accused is, indeed, a weird man," said presiding JudgeJuergen Schenck, agreeing that Rust had diminished mental capacity atthe time of the attack.

Wolfgang Walura, the victim's father, said his daughter stillsuffered physically and psychologically from the attack, which Rust'slawyer conceded would have killed her had it not taken place in ahospital. Stefanie Walura, who has filed a separate civil lawsuitagainst Rust, told the court the attack has caused her to becomeclaustrophobic.

Rust had no comment on the verdict as he left the courtroom.

The three-judge panel concluded that Stefanie Walura must havesaid or done something to provoke Rust on Nov. 23, 1989. He said heonly wanted to ask her for a date. But she testified that shethought Rust intended to kiss her when he put his hands on hershoulders in the locker room of the hospital where both worked. Bothagreed that Rust backed away when she screamed.

Rust said she then swore angrily at him and mocked his 1987Moscow "peace mission" as a publicity stunt. The flight fromHelsinki, Finland, to the cobblestones of Red Square handed SovietPresident Mikhail S. Gorbachev a historic opportunity to clean houseof his opponents and set perestroika in motion.

Walura denied taunting Rust, a conscientious objector who wasperforming civil service in the hospital in lieu of military duty.Rust served 14 months of a four-year prison term for "malicioushooliganism" in the Soviet Union.

Psychiatrists told the court that Rust suffered from"narcissistic neuroses" and a brain abnormality. Rust himselfindicated that he had been drugged during his year in Soviet prison.

Rust's attorney, Yitzhak Goldfine, described Rust as "anabsolutely isolated man" who was ill-equipped to deal with either hiscelebrity or his disgrace.