Dublin South West TD, and Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Seán Crowe, has joined with the 4 other Dublin South West TDs to release a joint statement which calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa. Their joint statement is below.
“Ibrahim Halawa was 17 at the time of his arrest for taking part in a protest in Cairo. He has now spent almost 3 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 have documented evidence of his innocence and have made him a ’Prisoner of conscience’. London based human rights group ‘Reprieve’ have 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 deputies for Dublin South West, Ibrahim’s home constituency, we are especially concerned for his well being 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 Dáil deputies 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.”
Colm Brophy TD (Fine Gael)
Sean Crowe TD (Sinn Fein)
John Lahart TD (Fianna Fail)
Paul Murphy TD (AAA)
Katherine Zappone TD (Independent)