Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Seán Crowe TD, raised the continued imprisonment Ibrahim Halawa’s in Egypt, with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Charlie Flanagan.

Crowe said that 1,013 days after his arrest, Ibrahim was no nearer to a release date and being forced to endure appalling conditions.

Deputy Crowe said:

“Ibrahim Halawa has now be imprisoned for 1,013 days. He is incarcerated in appalling conditions, forced to sleep on mat and eat inedible food, and he has no prospect or remote chance of a fair trial.

“After this extraordinary length of time, people are rightly asking what can be done differently by the Irish Government in Ibrahim’s case.

“He recently went missing within the prison system in Egypt and the Irish Embassy in Cairo were clearly misled by the local authorities about his exact whereabouts.

“The former Al Jazeera journalist, Peter Greste, who was a cell mate of Ibrahim’s, said that if it was not for the pressure put on politicians and diplomats by his family in Australia, he would still be in prison. Greste was recently critical of the Irish Government and said its quiet diplomacy is doing absolutely nothing to bring about Ibrahim’s release.

“Given that 1,013 days have elapsed, I pressed the Minister for a change in the Irish Government’s strategy and a new look at its approach to this case.

“If found guilty in his unfair mass trial he faces a possible death sentence.

“Surely after this length of time in custody we owe it to this young man’s family to redouble our efforts and come up with a new and workable plan to ensure Ibrahim’s release.”

ENDS