Family of Ibrahim meet council officials to plead for his release
Mary Dennehy
POLITICIAL differences were put aside in council chambers on Monday, when the sister of imprisoned Tallaght resident Ibrahim Halawa addressed public representatives and council officials.
Omaia Halawa and her young nephew Kallad accepted an invitation from South Dublin County Council to speak with elected representatives about the family’s fight to get 20-year-old Ibrahim released from an Egyptian prison and returned home to Ireland.
Ibrahim, who has been detained in an Egyptian prison since August 2013 without trial, was arrested during a public political protest against the military overthrow of Mohammed Morsi – Egypt’s first democratically elected president.
Speaking openly in council chambers, Omaia said: “What has happened to Ibrahim shows that you don’t have to be an Egyptian national to be subject to the Egyptian regime, and Ibrahim is currently trying to hold in and be mentally strong.
“Ibrahim has been imprisoned for such a long time and to think when he was arrested, his nephew Kallad hadn’t even started school, now he is in First Class – Ibrahim is missing so much of his life.”
The council has actively shown its support for Ibrahim and his family on a number of occasions, most recently in December when the local authority sent a letter to the Department of Foreign Affairs seeking it to “publicly demand” the release of Firhouse teenager Ibrahim Halawa.
Expressing the councillors’ unanimous support for the release of Ibrahim, Fianna Fáil councillor John Lahart, who invited the Halawa family into chambers, said to Omaia: “The people who represent every citizen in this county believe that your brother, an Irishman, should be returned home to the bosom of his family.”
It was encouraging to see so many councillors clearly moved by Omaia’s presence, with many voicing their support for Ibrahim’s release and putting aside their political differences to unite for human rights – which should be at the heart of all politics.
Speaking afterwards, Mayor Sarah Holland said: “In South Dublin and Dublin county councils, and in the European Parliament, we’ve seen cross-party support for this call.
“What was clear from [Monday’s] council discussion is that we can all put party politics aside in support of this young Irishman being brought home.
“The incoming Irish government – in particular the incoming Taoiseach and Foreign Minister – must make the resolution of this case their top priority.”
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