Updated at 12:03pm
THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT has voted in favour of a resolution that calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Irish prisoner Ibrahim Halawa.
The resolution was put forward by Irish MEPs and states that Halawa (20) could face the death penalty in Egypt.
The resolution passed by 566 votes to 11.
Halawa, who is an Irish citizen, has been imprisoned in Egypt for the past three years. He was arrested when he was 17 in Cairo amid anti-government protests.
His trial was postponed this week for the tenth time, with his family, Irish politicians and organisations such as Amnesty International calling for his release.
Release
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland this morning, Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan said that a strong statement to the Egyptian authorities was needed, and the resolution was important as it raised Halawa’s case at a EU level:
Ibrahim cannot testify in his defence, he’s being tried with 490 other defendants, he’s met with his lawyer once in the two and a half years so he’s never been able to put forward even a case of defence and they’re all in breach of any standards internationally about getting a fair trial.
Halawa’s imprisonment came at the height of the country’s political instability – just weeks after president Mohamed Morsi, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, was ousted by the military.
Irish MEPs and Halawa’s family hope that the resolution being passed will bring further light to the issue and put pressure on the Egyptian government to act.
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