Last week in Brussels, A 30-strong international delegation met to discuss how best to proceed with the case of 19-year-old Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa.
Halawa has been in prison in Egypt for over two years, having been part of a mass arrest of nearly 500 people during a military coup that led to the fall of Moammas Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, and the installation of current president Mohammad al Sisi.
Advertisement
The delegation was arranged by Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan, and included several international human rights lawyers. Present were senior lawyers who previously defended two of three Al Jazeera journalists Peter Greste and Mohammad Fahmy, who were arrested on terrorism charges in Egypt and recently released.
Also part of the delegation were several Irish MEPs and human rights groups, Halawa's former teacher and school friend, his four sisters, as well as 27-year-old dual US-Egyptian citizen Mohammad Soltan – who was served a life sentence for similar charges that related to speaking with foreign media, and attending protests during the Egyptian coup in July 2013 that led to the overthrow of democratically President Mohammed Morsi.
One of Ibrahim’s lawyers is Mark Wassouf from Doughty Street Chambers in London. He is former lawyer to Al Jazeera’s Mohammad Fahmy.
Shona Murray caught up with him and started by asking him about the charges Halawa was likely to face and whether or not the charge of murder applies to him, following a declaration by the Irish government declaring that it no longer did.
