It’s four years today since his imprisonment. USI will be outside the Egyptian Embassy today with Amnesty International, along with actress and activist Pauline McLynn, calling for his immediate release.

 

Speaking ahead of the protest, USI President Michael Kerrigan said, “Beyond all doubt, Ibrahim’s detention has gone on far longer than justifiable, and very little pressure seems to have come from Government to resolve the situation and have a fair trial or release secured for Ibrahim, who is an Irish citizen.

 

“If his name was Brian and he was from somewhere in Dublin or Kildare this wouldn’t have been an issue, we wouldn’t think twice about acting and intervening. Instead Ibrahim is still waiting for release – 4 years later. On a basic human rights basis it is unacceptable that he has been detained for so long without fair trial and we will not give up until his release back to Ireland and to his family”

 
Ibrahim Halawa is a 19 year old Irish citizen imprisoned for taking refuge in Egypt. He is an Amnesty International Prisoner of Conscience. He is from Firhouse in Dublin. In August 2013, Ibrahim and his three sisters went to a protest in Cairo following the violent dispersal by security forces of two sit-ins in Cairo and other protests across Egypt which left up to 1,000 people dead in a single day. When the protest turned violent they took refuge in a nearby mosque. At least 97 people were killed as a result of reckless use of force by the Egyptian security forces. On 17 August 2013, they were all arrested and taken to prison.

USI Vice President for Equality and Citizenship, Síona Cahill, with DITSU representatives at the Free Ibrahim protest in April 2017.