A Victorian man who was shot during the capture of a terrorist in Athens is demanding the Greek government pay compensation for injuries caused by police gunfire.
As reported by Neos Kosmos previously, 19-year-old Grant Uranie suffered a wound to his left ankle during a shoot-out in July last year.
The incident took place when police opened fire at suspected terrorist Nikos Maziotis near Mr Uranie at a cafe near the Acropolis.
In a letter sent this week to Greece’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Kotzias, Uranie’s legal representatives, Defteros Lawyers, requested the government pay $25,000 compensation for earnings lost by Uranie and the trauma he experienced.
Lawyer George Defteros, who is acting on Mr Uranie’s behalf, told Neos Kosmos: “We hope the minister will come back to us and offer us compensation to be paid to the client for what the client has endured.
“We’ve given the minister an opportunity to do that and we hope that he takes our letter seriously. We would like to try and resolve the issue without having to go the added expense and trauma of issuing proceedings. But if we have to issue proceedings, we will.”
Mr Uranie spent two days at the Hellenic Red Cross Hospital in Athens, and was discharged on 18 July 2014. Despite indicating that he was in a high degree of pain, following numerous examinations he said he was repeatedly told by Greek doctors that the wound was superficial.
“After being discharged from the hospital, the Greek government did not appear to want anything further to do with Grant. The only assistance [he] received from the Greek government in getting home was that on the day of his flight a nurse gave him an anti-clotting injection for the flight and some anti-clotting socks.”
Assistance was given to Uranie by consular staff at the Australian Embassy in Athens, who arranged his flight home.
“As it turned out, when he came back to Australia, the treatment was obviously inadequate because he had to undergo further medical treatment,” said Mr Defteros.
Upon his return to Australia, Uranie underwent surgery leaving him unable to walk for weeks; a situation his lawyers say resulted in his resignation from one of his part-time jobs, along with ending his career as a professional Australian rules football player. Mr Uranie was under contract with Casey Football Club.
Mr Uranie’s lawyers have yet to hear back from the minister, who has been given until August 17 to respond, after which they said they “would look to [Mr Uranie’s] other options for recovery, including court proceedings”.