Sir, – I am a 29-year-old secondary-school teacher who at this moment is sitting in his living room typing this email.
As I enjoy this freedom I am becoming increasingly anxious and concerned about the welfare of a former student of mine who has spent the last 18 months in prison in Egypt.
I taught Ibrahim Halawa science for four years in Rockbrook Park Secondary School in south Dublin from first year to transition year. In 5th year he left to continue his studies in the Institute of Education.
I, like Ibrahim, am from Dublin. I, like Ibrahim, speak with a Dublin accent and I, like Ibrahim, have three siblings and parents who I love and who love me. However, unlike Ibrahim, I am not Muslim and do not have a Muslim name but that is where the differences end.
There are a number of issues in his case that particularly concern me.
He was arrested in Cairo for undertaking his right to protest. He was arrested by an unelected government for protesting against the over-throwing of a democratically-elected government. He was 17 at the time of his arrest. He is being tried as part of a mass trial. He is being accused of acts that Amnesty International has said he could not have been involved in. He has been made a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International. He is an Irish citizen. He may be put to death.
In the past 18 months, the response of the Irish Government that represents both Ibrahim and me has been weak at best.
I have not seen any evidence that would suggest their effort in securing his release has been anything more than token.
Ibrahim’s large frame and dark facial hair belies the truth that he is a teenager who is quite immature and terrified of the situation he has been in for the last year-and-a-half. He does not deserve to be there and we as a nation should not accept that one of our citizens is being treated this way.
We must demand his release and have the convictions to follow through with stern actions, be it diplomatic or economic, if our government is continually ignored.
If this young man that I shared a classroom with for four years is put to death or spends his life in prison following an unfair trial on unfair charges, how can I stand in front of my students for years to come and claim to be somebody they should listen to and who does the right thing.
Australia secured a presidential pardon for one of its journalists who was in the same situation as Ibrahim. Why can’t our government do the same? – Yours, etc, CODIE PRESTON City West, Co Dublin.