Halawa: I'm not with the Muslim Brotherhood

CAIRO – 4 November 2017: Irish-Egyptian Ibrahim Halawa denied any involvement with the Muslim Brotherhood on Friday's Late Late Show, after he was released from Egyptian prison and went back to Ireland.

"Of course I'm not with the Muslim Brotherhood, at 17 you don't know what that is," he said.

He also stated that while he was imprisoned with members of the Muslim Brotherhood, he does not support their ideology, saying "I would differ with them a lot on so many points."

Halawa was released from jail on October 19, a month after he and his three sisters were acquitted of charges of murder and attempted murder at Al-Fath Mosque.

Irish Fine Gael leader Leo Varadkar welcomed Halawa’s release, the Free Ibrahim Hawala Facebook page posted on Friday.

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

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

Clashes outside the mosque, which took place outside downtown Cairo’s Ramses Square on August 17, 2013, resulted in the death of 44 people and the injury of 59 others, including 22 members of the security forces.