Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I again express concern at the inaccurate reporting the circumstances of the individual. There were allegations of torture, which were taken seriously and investigated by my Department and me. There was a suggestion in the form of a report that he was missing in prison. That did not transpire to be the case. While the individual remains in detention, a key objective for me is that we do what we can to protect his welfare and well-being and ensure prison conditions for him are as good as can be under the circumstances. Following an intervention by the ambassador, the individual involved is no longer sharing a cell with convicted criminals and is now accommodated with other remand detainees. This is not a negative development. He is in a different area of the prison from most of his co-accused. In addition to regular consular visits, our embassy in Cairo is in ongoing contact with the prison authorities and the relevant ministries to ensure the citizen's conditions are as good as possible. We will continue to raise any issues through all appropriate channels.

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