Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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171. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on any developments in the detention and trial of a person (details supplied) in Egypt; if he will report on consular assistance provided to that person and the person's family; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15326/15]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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I, too, want to raise the case of Ibrahim Halawa, an Irish citizen who is a prisoner of conscience according to Amnesty International. The case is extremely urgent, as the next hearing will be in five days. It is obviously accurate that the decision on whether to release Ibrahim will be made by the Egyptian authorities, but what is problematic is the idea that Egyptian law applies. There is no rule of law, in reality, in Egypt, and there is no justice available to Ibrahim. Does the Minister agree that the maximum pressure has to be applied, including directly by the Taoiseach, on the Egyptian authorities?

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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I assure Deputy Murphy that my objectives in the case are appropriate and clear. They are to see the release of the individual by the authorities in Cairo so he can return home to resume his studies in Dublin and be with his family, and to provide support for his welfare while he remains detained. The approach I continue to take on an almost daily basis is in furtherance of these objectives.

It is important to note again, and forgive me if I repeat it, with regard to the role of the Irish Government where citizens are detained abroad, irrespective of any views regarding the fairness of the trial or the circumstances, political or otherwise, in the jurisdiction where the person might be detained, the reality is that where an Irish citizen is charged with an offence or offences under the law of a foreign country, it is the foreign law that is applicable and it is the relevant foreign court which decides on these matters and all matters such as bail, evidence and continued detention or release. Notwithstanding this, there are circumstances associated with this case which warrant a return home of the individual and I assure the House of my continued interest in this regard. It is a matter solely for the authorities in Cairo.

Deputy Murphy suggested there are a number of days before the trial and this is correct. The return date is towards the end of this week. In line with our clear objectives in the case, our approach is consistently under review. I am keeping the Taoiseach fully briefed and it may be that at a certain stage it would be beneficial to the citizen for the Taoiseach to become involved. I have not ruled this out as a possibility. The hearing dates, return dates and the dates on which evidence is tendered are entirely, solely and exclusively a matter for the courts in Egypt.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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I urge the Minister and the Government to go with the option of the Taoiseach intervening. In five days time Ibrahim could be sentenced to death. Yesterday, 22 people were sentenced to death for participation in a protest. There is no chance of him receiving justice in what is a mass trial. The Minister recognised the reality that the Egyptian authorities will decide, but the nature of these authorities is that there is a counterrevolutionary dictatorship in Egypt which is drowning revolution in blood. This is what is happening through an act of mass trials and execution. An Irish citizen is caught up in this. None of the other peaceful protesters should be caught up in it either. The Government must do everything it can, and surely this includes the Taoiseach intervening. I do not see how the Taoiseach intervening could have a negative impact on Ibrahim's prospects.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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The next hearing is scheduled for 26 April, which is later this week. It would be most unhelpful for me or anybody else to speculate as to what might happen on that occasion. I assure the House and Deputy Murphy that Irish embassy officials will be in attendance as they have been at every hearing of this trial to monitor, experience and report on developments of the day. There is a specific application before the courts for the release of the individual on bail. This is being considered by the judge. Inappropriate escalation of political intervention, however well-intentioned it might be, could be counter-productive to our objective in the case and could be counter-productive to the best interests and welfare of the citizen involved. We are keeping matters under review and I am happy to keep the Deputy fully informed of developments.

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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I welcome the fact that people from the embassy will be in attendance and monitoring and I accepted the intentions of the Government are not to harm Ibrahim in any way, but at this stage what is needed is the highest possible level of political intervention. Of course there are differences in other cases, but was high level political intervention a factor in the case of the Australian citizen, Peter Greste, and the Canadian citizen, Mohammed Fahmy?

In the last couple of days the family did not know what prison he was in, as mentioned by Deputy Crowe. They went to another prison and he was not there, but when they went back to the first prison they found he had been moved. According to his family, he showed signs of physical abuse. We need the maximum possible intervention to pressurise the authorities.

Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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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.