By Heba Fahmy
CAIRO: A total of 530 martyrs’ families were granted LE 1,500 each in exceptional pensions, according to a statement posted on the Cabinet’s Facbeook page on Wednesday.
The statement added that 1,000 of those injured during the January 25 Revolution are in the process of receiving LE 5,000 for each victim who suffered permanent disability and LE 2,000 for more mild injuries.
Khalaf Bayoumi, a lawyer representing the victims’ families in Alexandria, told Daily News Egypt that the exceptional pension lasts for only three years.
All families of the martyrs’ in Alexandria received their exceptional pensions without obstacles, he said, adding however that the injured are still going through lengthy procedures to receive compensation.
The finance ministry said in a statement Wednesday that if no one in the family is eligible to receive the exceptional pension, the martyr’s rightful heirs will receive a reward of LE 50,000, according to the state-run Middle East News Agency (MENA).
The public prosecution office is responsible for specifying cases eligible for exceptional pensions and presenting certified documents proving so to the finance ministry, according to the statement.
The board of directors’ of the fund providing health and social care for the Jan. 25 injured and their families was established on Tuesday, headed by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf.
The board includes General Mohsen El-Fangary, member of the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), as deputy of the board, in addition to Sheikh Ali Gomaa, Grand Mufti of Egypt, and a number of representatives from the ministries of social solidarity, health, interior and finance.
“The Cabinet took these procedures in an attempt to calm the families’ recent outrage,” Bayoumi said.
“However these families will only be satisfied with swift and just trials of those responsible for killing their sons, not money,” he added.
Clashes between protesters and police forces during the uprising that ousted president Hosni Mubarak left at least 846 dead and 6,467 injured nationwide, according to a report issued by an official fact-finding mission.
