‘A sky with no bars’ – Halawa’s joy at being free
THIS is the first picture of a delighted Ibrahim Halawa following his release from an Egyptian prison, where he had spent four years – and endured at least 25 adjournments of his trial.
The 21-year-old Dubliner wrote on his Facebook page that he was thrilled to see a ‘sky without bars’ – and thanked everyone who had helped him secure his freedom.
Mr Halawa was acquitted on charges of subversion against the Egyptian authorities on September 17, but was held in prison until late on Thursday when he finally walked free. He wrote: ‘Finally, the day where I can see the sky without bars, smell fresh air, walk freely and smile deeply from the bottom of my heart. But I miss one thing and it’s being home.
‘I wanna thank the team at the embassy who worked very hard. ‘The ambassador Seán O’Regan, former consuls Damien Cole, Shane Gleeson, Vincent Herlihy. Thank you to everyone who helped I love you all.’ Mr Halawa’s sister Fatima told RTÉ News the family were expecting him to be back home on Sunday.
She said: ‘Last night was the first time in four years that we were able to sleep peacefully without guilt and we felt assured that Ibrahim was sleeping on a bed and was safe.’
She described how her sister Nosayba, who is in Egypt, was so shocked to see her brother finally set free that she fainted on seeing him for the first time. She said: ‘She has been to visit him before in the prison and it was weird hearing that upon seeing him on release, she fainted.’ Mr Halawa, from Firhouse in Dublin, was cleared last month of all charges connected to mass protests in Cairo in August 2013, the Muslim Brotherhood’s socalled Day of Rage. A student and son of a prominent Muslim cleric in Dublin – Sheikh Hussein Halawa – he was prosecuted in a mass trial after being arrested in a mosque near Ramses Square in Cairo amid protests over the removal of democratically elected president Mohamed Morsi.
His three sisters, Somaia, Fatima and Omaima, were also arrested but later released on bail. They returned to Dublin, and were acquitted following trial in absentia.