Amongst increasing calls for Taoiseach Enda Kenny to get personally involved, Somaia Halawa spoke to Shona Murray on Lunchtime this afternoon about Ibrahim's plight, and add to the chorus of voices calling on Kenny to step in. 

Halawa has been in prison in Egypt for two years, but was told that his trial has once again been delayed until October, which is another setback in the Halawa family's campaign to bring Ibrahim home. The human rights organisation Reprieve says he has been tortured while in jail, and when speaking to lunchtime, solicitor Kevin Winters highlighted the plight that he was facing. 

"It was August 2013 when Ibrahim was arrested and detained without any basis. That trial was put back two months on the basis that witnesses weren't available, that's what we're told formally, but the reality we suspect may well be very different". He also outlined the difficulties facing the legal team as they try to get any sort of details on the progress of his case: "We were, together with Lynn Boylan, refused access to the court. That's been a recurring feature in relation to the defence of Ibrahim. Even his own Egyptian-based lawyers have had serious difficulties in not only getting access to him, but most significantly in not being able to identify and receive material from the prosecution which purportedly justifies the detention of Ibrahim."

His sister, Somaia, also spoke emotionally about how she and her family are feeling in the face of yet another delay to the trial, saying that "there are no words in the world that describe how we're feeling right now". She highlighted how her sister, who is currently in Egypt, gets to visit him every week, but those conversations are closely monitored by guards: "In the ten minutes she has with him, they intervene a hundred times, trying to tell her 'don't speak in English', or 'don't say that' [...] she always comes back saying that she couldn't hear what he was saying or hear what was happening to him".

Commenting on the stance taken by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Taoiseach, she said "Of course they are not doing all they can [...] When are the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Taoiseach going to realise that there's no such thing as judicial process in Egypt? I hope they don't realise when it's already too late and Ibrahim's life is over". 

You can listen to the full interview below: