The Free Ibrahim Halawa delegation.
Image by Sinn Féin on Flickr.
Irishman Ibrahim Halawa has been unlawfully imprisoned in Egypt for three years, and a protest will take place this evening in Ballsbridge to challenge this.
Halawa’s 15th rescheduled trial took place yesterday, where he was tried alongside 493 other people. He has been imprisoned without conviction for 1,130 days in horrible prison conditions without being able to see his family or friends, all for peacefully expressing his right to freedom of expression.
At age 17, Halawa went to Cairo with his three sisters to visit their cousins and took part in a protest after security forces violently dispersed several protests throughout the country and killed 1,000 people in a single day on August 14th. The protest they attended turned violent and Halawa was arrested while at least 97 people were killed as a result of reckless use of force by security forces.
Amnesty International representatives who were present in Cairo at the time of the protest insisted that there is no way that Halawa could have fired on the security forces as the Egyptian authorities have claimed. He is in danger of receiving the death penalty.
The protest will take place at the Egyptian Embassy at 12 Clyde Road from 5.30pm to 7pm this evening. Anyone who cannot attend but wishes to help the cause can do so here.
More information can be found by emailing act@amnesty.ie.
By Kevin Carney
