Echo Opinion: What is the State doing for Ibrahim?

By Echo Reporter

THE TRIAL in Egypt of Firhouse man Ibrahim Halawa was adjourned for the 14th time this Wednesday.

Ibrahim was arrested by the Egyptian army as he took refuge in a Cairo mosque while Muslim Brotherhood protesters staged a “day of rage” in August 2013 and has been in custody ever since.

He has been charged with murder, attempted murder, and participating in an illegal protest along with several hundred Egyptians who face the death penalty as well as long terms of imprisonment.

It was expected that a verdict and sentence would be handed down yesterday but the judge has decided that he wants to consider video evidence and he is to establish a technical committee to examine the evidence. This means that Ibrahim is remanded in custody until October.

Ibrahim’s solicitor Darragh Mackin has said: “When there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, the Egyptian criminal process extends the tunnel.” He has suggested that the Government should work from the accepted legal position that Ibrahim was being arbitrarily detained.

Again Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan has expressed his concern at the news but one can’t help getting the feeling that the Government would have acted a little more forthrightly if Ibrahim’s surname was Murphy or O’Brien.

Ibrahim is an Irish citizen, but you could be forgiven for forgetting that he is, given the tip-toe limp-wristed diplomacy that the Irish Government have engaged in.

If Ibrahim was from Castlebar and played for the local football team, do you think he would still be languishing in a Cairo prison cell. It is doubtful.

One would think that in this centenary year of 1916, the Government would treat all Irish citizens the same, whatever their colour or creed. It seems we have some distance to go.