Ibrahim Halawa has said he spends his time in Egyptian prison “waiting in a queue for my turn on a death rope.” His family have said they are “dying every day, one hundred times,” while he remains there.
In a handwritten letter to his mother, the Dublin teenager, 19, describes his despair and confirms he has been on hunger strike for 20 days at the time of writing, November 9.
He assures his family that he will continue the protest until he is released because “in Egypt you must pay your life in order to be released.”
He has previously gone on hunger strike, in June of this year.
"This is the place where experimental torture is practiced, this is the place once you’re in there is no out," he said.
"I write with a ticking clock closer to my death. For the past two years and three months I have been imprisoned unjustly. I’m waiting in a queue for my turn on the death rope. My only crime is being innocent. I have waited for the Egyptian government to prove otherwise but clearly hasn’t," he said.
"We are dying every day" - Somaia Halawa
His sister, Somaia, had said the family are “dying every day” while Ibrahim is in prison.
"Just imaging that your brother, that’s the way he’s thinking. A boy 20 years of age, rather than thinking about his drams, he’s thinking about that he’s actually waiting on the death row, he’s waiting his turn," she said.
"Each one of us in them family, we’re actually dying every day, one hundred times," she added.
The Egyptian government have sentenced 588 to death people this year, with 72% of those people who attended pro-democracy protests, according to a report from human rights group Reprieve.
The report says the Egyptian government under Abdel Fatah al-Sisi undertakes "mass incarceration, mass trials and mass death sentences as a tool of political repression". The report also found that some 41,000 people are currently in prison for supporting pro-democracy movements.
Image: Ibrahim Halawa's letter describing his despair and confirming he is on hunger strike
Halawa was one of almost 500 protesters arrested at a Cairo mosque during a military coup that led to the fall of the democratically elected Mohammad Morsi, in the summer of 2013.
Reprieve, a human rights organisation, has said Halawa has been subjected to torture while in prison, including beatings and solitary confinement.
Since his arrest his trial has been postponed nine times. He is currently scheduled for trial on December 15. His lawyers say he faces murder charges and execution if found guilty.
"The onus is on the Irish government" - Paul Murphy
The letter has led to renewed calls for action from the Irish government to help secure Ibrahim’s release.
“The onus is now on the Irish government and specifically the Taoiseach Enda Kenny to directly intervene with the Egyptian President and demand that he is immediately released and returned to Ireland,” said Paul Murphy TD.
“The government need to take a hard stance against this dictatorship which is jailing journalists and protestors in mass trials. Ibrahim Halawa should not be facing any trial for taking part in a protest, the Taoiseach should be putting this to the Egyptian president now before there is deterioration in his health.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs has said they are regularly visiting Mr Halawa – meeting him in prison for the 47th time on November 1 – and that the case has been raised at the highest levels.
“Minister Flanagan has raised the Halawa case on numerous occasions with his Egyptian counterpart, Minister Sameh Shoukry, most recently last week," a statement released this evening said.
“On the request of the Minister, the EU’s High Representative Federica Mogherini also raised the case when she visited Egypt recently. The Taoiseach has also discussed Ibrahim Halawa with the Egyptian President directly.”
