Published: Thu, 17 December 2015
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“We urge the Egyptian authorities to free Ibrahim Halawa,” Seán Kelly MEP said, on behalf of the four Fine Gael MEPs who have welcomed today’s adoption of a European Parliament Resolution calling for the release of the Irish citizen who has been imprisoned in Egypt since 2013.
Seán Kelly MEP (South), Brian Hayes (Dublin), Mairead McGuinness (Midlands North West) and Deirdre Clune (South) expressed concern for the 20-year-old from Dublin, who faces a mass trial on December 19th:
“The very nature of mass trials is deeply concerning and has been widely recognised as a breach of Egypt’s obligations under international human rights law,” said MEP Kelly, Leader of the Fine Gael delegation in the European Parliament.
“With this vote, the European Parliament today condemned the use of the death penalty and called for a full moratorium on the use of capital punishment in Egypt, sending a very strong signal of EU support for Mr Halawa.
“We welcome the outcome of this vote which backs the previous call by the Irish government for the young man’s release. The Irish government continues to work tirelessly on this issue,” he added.
The Resolution received cross-party support in the European Parliament.
