THE TRIAL OF Irishman Ibrahim Halawa in Egypt has been adjourned for the 15th time, meaning that the Irishman has now spent 38 months in jail without a trial.
The case has now been put back until November after a previous adjournment in June had put the case back until today.
The 20-year-old has been jailed since August 2013 after he was arrested and detained at a protest in Cairo. The demonstration was in support of the Muslim Brotherhood which had been ousted from power by the Egyptian military.
The Egyptian authorities have chosen to try Halawa in a mass trial along with almost 500 other people, a decision that has either deliberately or indirectly led to the repeated postponements.
Amnesty International Ireland has the legal process is a clear breach of due process.
“There is no credible evidence against Ibrahim, who faces and a mass trial alongside 493 other defendants. A mass trial simply cannot meet the standards required for a fair trial as defined under international human rights law,” according to Colm O’Gorman, executive director of Amnesty International Ireland.
The postponement means that Halawa will now spend a 1,142nd night in prison and comes amid fresh claims that he has been subjected to violence and mistreatment while behind bars.
Halawa has claimed that he has been stripped naked, beaten with a bar and put in solitary confinement during his detention.
The Irish government has formally requested that Halawa be released by presidential decree.
The decree allows foreign prisoners continue their detention in their home country was used in the case of Australian journalist Peter Greste who was held by Egyptian authorities before being released.
Amnesty International claims that it has conducted a thorough review of the prosecution evidence and concluded that Halawa, “could not have committed the violent crimes with which he has been charged.”
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