Halawa to return home in Dublin on Sunday or Monday: Irish FM

CAIRO - 20 October 2017: Irish-Egyptian Ibrahim Halawa will return back to his home in Dublin by Sunday or Monday after he was released from Egyptian prison on Thursday, Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Coveney told RTÉ Radio One’s Morning Ireland on Friday.

The procedures of his travelling could be finalized on Sunday, as the Egyptian Ministry of Immigration closes Fridays and Saturdays, the minister added.

Halawa, 21, was released from jail on Thursday, a month after he and his three sisters were acquitted of charges of murder and attempted murder in incidents of Al-Fath Mosque, Irish Ambassador to Egypt Sean O’Regan confirmed per a statement from the Irish government.

“I am delighted that Ibrahim has finally been released after his long and difficult ordeal, and that he will soon be able to return home and be reunited with his family,” Coveney said in the statement.

Irish Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar welcomes Halawa’s release, expressing his delight in a post on the Free Ibrahim Hawala Facebook page on Friday.




Halawa, 21,and his sisters were arrested on August 17, 2013 when they participated in a sit-in at the Al-Fath Mosque following the dispersal of pro-Muslim Brotherhood members in Rabaa and Nahda squares in August 2013.

Halawa and 493 others, belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood, were tried on charges of murder and attempted murder in the incidents at Al-Fath Mosque.

MB members and security forces clashed outside Al-Fath Mosque, located in downtown Cairo’s Ramses Square, on August 17, 2013, during which 44 people were killed and 59 injured, including 22 members of the security forces.