The police officer nicknamed the “eye sniper” after a video apparently showed him aiming shotgun pellets at protesters’ heads during clashes in November has, for the third time, been detained for 15 days pending investigations.
Judge Alaa Ghallab decided to renew the detention of First Lieutenant Mahmoud Sobhy al-Shennawy over charges of intentionally targeting protesters’ eyes.
During the first session of investigations, Shennawy denied all charges. The session was closed, and all journalists and media professionals were banned from accessing the investigations.
Tarek Gameel Saeed, the defendant’s lawyer, said he submitted new documents that he says he obtained from the national security agency, according the news website Youm7.
The documents include photographs of civilians on roofs of the neighboring buildings and holding weapons, others holding tear gas bombs, and others pointing guns toward police and protesters, Saeed said, according to the website.
He also submitted photographs about losses of vehicles and buildings on the street. Saeed said those documents would change course of the trial.
However, Shennawy was ordered to be kept in custody out of fear he would be killed.
The defendant’s lawyer had previously said there was no evidence against Shennawy, so he would be remanded in custody. The lawyer added that records proved he was not there at the scene and that he didn’t have a weapon.
