Eye sniper to face trial for Egypt violence

A police officer nicknamed the “eye sniper” and 379 other people are to face trial over the deadly anti-military clashes in Cairo last November, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported on Sunday. Lieutenant Mahmud al-Shinnawi, who earned the nickname after having allegedly aimed rubber bullets at protesters’ heads, is among those referred to Cairo criminal court. Another 379 people, accused of having injured policemen during the clashes or having set fire to public buildings, will also face justice, in a trial for which a date has yet to be set. The clashes which started on November 19 in Cairo and several other cities killed dozens of people, mostly near the capital’s Tahrir Square. Many protesters in Tahrir were seen in the days following the protests with a bandage over an eye. Cell phone footage circulated on the Internet showed a policeman apparently aiming at protesters’ eyes near Tahrir Square. “In his eye! It was in his eye! Bravo, my friend!” an officer is heard to say.