Sir, – Ibrahim Halawa was 17 at the time of his arrest for taking part in a protest in Cairo. He has now spent almost three years behind bars without trial or due process. He is being tried as part of a mass trial of almost 500 people and his case has now been adjourned 13 times.
Amnesty International has documented evidence of his innocence and has made him a “prisoner of conscience”. The London-based human rights group Reprieve has spoken out concerning the ill-treatment of Ibrahim and other prisoners. The Law Society of Ireland has also described his case as a clear case of arbitrary detention.
Ibrahim is just one person among some 40,000 people who have been arrested in Egypt in the last number of years as part of a major clampdown by the current regime on any opposition or democratic protest. This is a major concern for us. As the elected TDs for Dublin South West, Ibrahim’s home constituency, we are especially concerned for his wellbeing and his basic human rights.
Considering all of these factors, we call on the Egyptian authorities for the immediate and unconditional release of Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa.
We also call on all TDs to support Ibrahim and to ensure that his release is a priority for the next government, and we ask the Dáil to follow the example of the European Parliament and to pass a cross-party motion of support for Ibrahim and to seek his release as a matter of urgency. – Yours, etc,
COLM BROPHY TD
(Fine Gael);
SEÁN CROWE TD,
(Sinn Féin);
JOHN LAHART TD,
(Fianna Fáil);
PAUL MURPHY TD,
(Anti-Austerity Alliance);
KATHERINE
ZAPPONE TD,
(Independent),
Leinster House,
Dublin 2.