No compensation for Egyptian activist blinded by sniper bullets

Cairo's administrative court rejected on Sunday a personal injury claim filed by Ahmed Harara, a political activist and former dentist, to demand compensation for losing both his eyes during violent clashes with the police on 28 January and 19 November 2011, reported local media.

"The papers show that Harara had already received the compensation amount set by the law [100,000 Egyptian Pounds - $12,778] in 2012 for those suffering from total disability as a result of the 25 January revolution", the court said.

"He has not proven that he had suffered any additional damage that would require further compensation."

Harara told the court he had refused to receive any form of donation, whether from Egypt or abroad, insisting on covering his medical expenses from his own money and with help from his family.

After his first injury, Harara needed to find an alternative career. He was accepted for an office job at a local bank. However, his second injury completely disabled him, leaving him with no other options.

"If God wills that I start to see again, I will look for office work. If not, I will learn braille and look for any appropriate job. I cannot stay home without work", Harara told Time in a 2011 interview, following his second injury.

"I don't think that just because I was injured in my eyes, I should stay home and not move and wait for someone to feed me and give me money without me doing anything. It's not something that should be done."

He filed the personal injury claim in 2012. He had lost one of his eyes to rubber bullets during clashes that broke out between the police and the protesters in the iconic Tahrir Square on 28 January 2011, which came to be known as the Day of Rage. On 19 November the same year, he lost his other eye the same way, this time in the Mohamed Mahmoud Street clashes.