JAILED IRISH TEENAGER Ibrahim Halawa has been visited in an Egyptian prison by the chair of the Oireachtas Foreign Affairs Committee.

The 19-year-old from Tallaght has been held for some 23 months at various prisons in Cairo over his participation in a demonstration at a mosque at the height of the country’s political instability.

Today, Pat Breen visited the Wadi Al-Natrun prison in Cairo for a 90 minute meeting with Halawa.

Deputy Breen said that he found Ibrahim in “reasonable spirits”, despite the serious challenges of his detention over the past two years.

“I found him a young man in reasonable spirits in what are very trying circumstances. On behalf of the committee, I relayed our ongoing interest in his case and the concerns of his family in relation to his health and well-being and that I would bring these concerns to the relevant authorities. Ibrahim was appreciative of my presence and thanked the committee for its ongoing interest in his case.

“I expressed the committee’s continued support to him to ensure his speedy release.”

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Halawa’s trial has been postponed six times already and he has yet to be charged with any crime, though preliminary charges have been laid against him, including:

Presence inside the mosque at the time of arrest

Refusal to leave the mosque when requested to do so and when offered safe passage by military police

Travelling from a different part of the city with the intention of getting involved in a protest

Assisting in locking and barricading the mosque from the inside, according to photo and video evidence

He has been designated a ‘prisoner of conscience’ by Amnesty International – and the human rights group has warned that he could face the death penalty if convicted.

Breen met with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and says he raised concerns over the case with him.