BERLIN — A German court convicted a Syrian asylum seeker of manslaughter on Thursday over a stabbing last year that touched off nationalist and neo-Nazi rioting in the eastern city of Chemnitz and revealed the strength of an anti-immigrant backlash.

The Chemnitz state court found the Syrian man, identified only as Alaa S. in keeping with privacy laws, guilty of manslaughter and dangerous bodily harm for his role in the death of a German man, Daniel Hillig, last Aug. 26. He was sentenced to nine years and six months in prison; prosecutors had sought a 10-year term. The trial was held in the city of Dresden for security reasons.

Defense lawyers said they would appeal the ruling.

A second suspect, an Iraqi man identified only as Fahrad A. whose DNA was found on the knife used in the killing, is being sought on an international arrest warrant. A third man, also Iraqi, was initially detained but later released for lack of evidence.

Alaa S. denied participating in the killing, saying that he had left a nearby kebab shop only after he heard shouting outside, and was then immediately detained by the police. “I can only hope that the truth will be brought to light and a fair verdict will be reached,” he told the court in his final remarks before the sentence was read out.