An Egyptian police officer notoriously known as the “eye sniper” has been sentenced on Tuesday to three years in prison for his involvement in deadly clashes erupted in Cairo in 2011 targeting the eyes of five protestors with birdshot.
Judge Makram Awad of the Cairo criminal court sentenced Mahmoud Al-Shinnawi to three years for having targeted the eyes of demonstrators during protests on Mohammed Mahmoud street, near Cairo’s Tahrir Square in November 2011.
The country’s prosecution described Shinnawi’s acts as “evil”, underlining that the victims “had done nothing but break their silence to demand their legitimate rights” during the protests.
Many protesters in Tahrir were seen in the days following the protests with their eyes bandaged.
The Central Security Forces lieutenant became known as the ‘eye-sniper’ after a video circulated on the internet of El-Al-Shinnawi deliberately targeting the eyes of protesters during the clashes.
Mobile phone footage circulated on the Internet showed Mahmoud Al-Shinnawi aiming at protesters’ eyes and another officer telling him, “In his eye! Well done, sir.”
Around 40 people were killed in the Mohamed Mahmoud bloody incidents in November 2011 when police and unarmed protesters fought running battles near the interior ministry in downtown Cairo.
