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Irish-Egyptian acquitted of all charges after 4-year imprisonment

September 18, 2017 at 2:17 pm

Ibrahim Halawa, an Irish-Egyptian who was imprisoned in Egypt for four years, has been acquitted of all charges a court outside Cairo has ruled.

During a mass trial today, a regular occurrence against political prisoners in Egypt, verdicts were read for 500 prisoners including Halawa and dual US citizen Ahmed Etiwy.

Etiwy was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in protests in 2013 in Cairo however Halawa was acquitted of all charges since his detention in August 2013 when he was 17 years old.

Halawa reportedly “jumped with joy” and hugged his fellow detainees when the verdict was read. Alongside Halawa, his sisters Somaia, Fatima and Omaima were also acquitted of all charges.

Irish consul Shane Gleeson also attended the mass trial and was seen giving a thumb’s up to the young detainee after the verdict.

Halawa, along with his sisters, was arrested at the siege of Al-Fath mosque in 2013 after mourners gathered and protested against the massacre in Rabaa by Egyptian authorities.

Read more: If I don’t give myself hope, I will not survive,’ says sister of Egypt detainee

Halawa has had his trial adjourned over 30 times and has faced torture whilst being moved to several prisons since his detention. His sisters were released three months after their imprisonment.

It remains unknown when Halawa will be released from prison.

In the same case, the father of Mohamed Soltan, the Egyptian-American former detainee and hunger striker, was handed a life term by the judge.