Protester blinded by water cannon

The 33-year-old from Aigburth spoke exclusively to the Daily Post of
the horror and pain of being directly hit in the face with the
powerful jets by officers he claimed were using the crowd control
devices as weapons.

The protester, a member of Liverpool's Social Forum, is suffering
from shock and witnesses to the incident, which occurred at the
protest in the Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm on Thursday, said
they saw his eye come out of its socket.

Speaking last night from the Eye Unit at the Royal Liverpool
Hospital, the victim, who wishes only to be called Matt, said a CAT
scan had revealed he had sustained internal bleeding, extensive
damage to his Iris and possible damage to his retina.

Doctors have now told the keen reader, cyclist and amateur
photographer, that he will face future operations, cataracts, and
glaucoma.

They told him that because of the internal bleeding it would be
between six to eight weeks before they could assess the damage to his
retina but warned that permanent harm had been caused and that he
will never fully regain the vision in that eye.

Matt said: "I went to Germany to take part in a peaceful protest and
to be honest at the start of the day there was a very jolly, almost
carnival, atmosphere.

"There were three lines of police and all of a sudden things got more
aggressive.

"There were a few baton charges so all the protesters just linked
arms and stood firm. It was all still very peaceful.

"I have never seen water cannons before and all of a sudden there
were eight or nine of them. The police made an announcement in German
but none of us understood it and then we were fired at.

"I was knocked to the floor at first and then when I got up I was hit
right in the face.

"The pain was incredible. My eye had come out and I just ran off
holding it to find an ambulance."

Matt was one of seven protesters and a German journalist who were
taken to Rostock University Hospital with eye injuries.

He said one protester had also been knocked unconscious by the water
cannons and another suffered a perforated ear drum.

Matt added: "They were using water cannons as weapons, which they are
not supposed to do.

"Their actions were deliberate and vindictive and completely
unnecessary.

"I went there to express my feelings peacefully as I am entitled to
do. What they did to me was absolutely dis- graceful. Doctors can't
believe what they have done to me.

"The German activists we spoke to said they have never before seen
the police use this type of water cannon or fire at people heads."

Matt added that he was going to take advice about suing the German
police and will campaign for a stop to water cannons being fired at
protesters' heads.


Liverpool Daily Post - June 11th