Local TDs part of delegation travelling to Egypt to meet Ibrahim Halawa

Local TDs are part of an Irish delegation travelling to Egypt today to meet with Ibrahim Halawa from Firhouse in Tallaght and the Egyptian government.

Mr Halawa, who was arrested along with his sisters during a protest in Cairo, has been in prison since August 2013, and has had his trial postponed 17 times.

In Dublin airport with @OireachtasNews delegation to Cairo to meet @FreeIbrahim95 and call on president el Sisi to release him. pic.twitter.com/Vp2Y0JWHd9

— Eoin O Broin (@EOBroin) January 9, 2017

In airport en route to Egypt as part of delegation of Irish TDs. Will be meeting with Ibrahim tomorrow afternoon in prison. #FreeIbrahim

— Paul Murphy (@paulmurphyAAA) January 9, 2017

It is hoped the delegation, which includes Sinn Fein’s Eoin O Broin, AAA/PBP’s Paul Murphy and Colm Brophy of Fine Gael, will have a face-to-face meeting with Mr Halawa on Tuesday.

A meeting with the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El Sisi will also take place, and some of the discussions will be based around fostering bilateral cooperation in the areas foreign relations, communications, agriculture, trade, transport and tourism.

It is expected that concerns in relation to the case of Mr Halawa will also be raised at this meeting.

A thorough review of his case by Amnesty International, and the prosecution’s evidence, has already concluded that Ibrahim Halawa could not have committed the violent crimes with which he has been charged.