Delight and relief as Ibrahim Halawa cleared
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the 21-year-old Dubliner could be home in days, but Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney cautioned that the process could take a while because of the formalities involved.
Ibrahim, who was 17 when he was detained, could have faced the death penalty after being subjected to a mass trial involving hundreds of people rounded up during anti-government protests in 2013 when he was holidaying with relatives in the Egyptian capital.
Three of his sisters were also arrested and spent several months in jail but were released on bail and allowed return to Ireland. They were also formally acquitted yesterday.
Another sister, Nosayba Halawa, told through tears yesterday how the family watched the acquittal over the internet after waiting anxiously while the names of the convicted were read out.
“We couldn’t believe it. After all our suffering, it has come to an end,” she told RTÉ. She said the news could not have come at a better time as the siblings’ mother is scheduled for surgery today. “We were hoping her spirits would be high going into hospital so this news is the best.”
Somaia Halawa, who spent three months in jail, said the family was overjoyed. “We would like to extend our thanks to all those who tirelessly campaigned and fought for Ibrahim’s release,” she said.
The verdict was warmly welcomed by human rights groups, politicians of all parties, and by President Michael D Higgins, who said: “I welcome the news that Ibrahim Halawa and his three sisters have today been acquitted of all charges brought against him, and them, in what has been a prolonged, distressing, and draining experience.”
Colm O’Gorman of Amnesty International Ireland said he was delighted but added that it was devastating that Ibrahim, who was waiting for his Leaving Certificate results when he was arrested, had lost four years of his life.
Ibrahim’s international legal team said they were relieved by the verdict. Solicitor Darragh Mackin, of KRW Law, said the acquittal brought to an end a turbulent time for his client and his family.
“During his time in detention in various prison facilities in Egypt, Ibrahim witnessed and was subjected to horrific human rights abuses and inhumane prison conditions,” he said, urging his return home without delay.
Diplomats at the Irish embassy in Cairo, who have attended court over almost 30 adjournments, were present again yesterday to hear the verdict and rushed to the sound-proofed glass and wire cage in which Ibrahim and the other prisoners were held.
Irish journalist Declan Walsh, the Cairo bureau chief for the New York Times, who witnessed the proceedings, said Ibrahim could not be heard but was seen jumping up and down and punching the air in delight.
