Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. This is a tragic case. As we all know, Amnesty International has declared Ibrahim Halawa a prisoner of conscience. He is the only Irish citizen resting in a foreign jail who has been declared a prisoner of conscience by that organisation. It means that he is innocent of all charges.

On 21 April last year the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade stated there had been inaccurate reports that Ibrahim had been tortured, yet Reprieve and other human rights organisations have stated there has been a risk of torture and that they understood he had been tortured. It is tragic to think this Irish citizen, a young man in a foreign jail, has been subject to torture. That is one issue but the other is that of charges.

Mr. Halawa’s legal team is of the firm belief he is facing the death penalty, yet the Taoiseach said in the Dáil that he was facing lesser charges. Mr. Halawa's legal team maintains the position that he is facing the death penalty. We need to have this clarified, but we also need to know what works. We all agree on that point. What works is what the Australians have done. What they did at the highest level was pursue the President of Egypt on decree 140 which allows for prisoners to be released prior to a trial taking place. This is a legal opinion from Doughty Street Chambers and KRW Law, Kevin Winters' law firm in Belfast. Doughty Street Chambers is internationally renowned. Ms Amal Clooney has been involved in this case also. The legal opinion is that the Irish Government maintains Law 140 cannot be applied. It states that, strictly, the Government has to wait until Mr. Halawa receives a trial. However, the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ms Julie Bishop, acknowledged on the day when Mr. Peter Greste, an Australian citizen, was sent for retrial after the decision in the original trial had been overturned or quashed that he was back in the position of an accused person awaiting trial. That is exactly the position Ibrahim Halawa is in. According to his legal team, Law 140 clearly allows for the transfer to Ireland of Mr. Halawa prior to a final judgment being given in his case. The legal team urges the Irish Government to pursue Law 140 which permits the transfer of an accused and convicted person to his or her state for the purpose of trying him or her or carrying out his or her sentence. One would imagine that we would be pursuing Law 140.

Last year I proposed to the foreign affairs committee that Ibrahim Halawa’s legal team, Kevin Winters’ firm, come down from Belfast and that representatives of Doughty Street Chambers come to Ireland to give their opinion on what this Parliament and parliamentarians could do. Believe it or not, it had to be put to a vote, in which Fine Gael and the Labour Party voted not to have the legal team give us evidence on what it believes should happen. What does this say?

Some people believe in soft diplomacy and I have been known to pursue it on occasion, but sometimes I do not believe it works. In this case, it has not worked for Mr. Ibrahim Halawa and it will not work for him. What has worked and what will work is Law 140. Fianna Fáil will be asking the foreign affairs committee to invite Kevin Winters’ law firm and Doughty Street Chambers to a meeting of the committee to tell us what they believe will work. What I believe will work is what worked for the Australian Peter Greste. He is now back in Australia, his release having been successfully secured by his Prime Minister in pursuing the President of Egypt to have him issue a presidential decree under Law 140. The man had actually not been convicted, but was released prior to his trial taking place. I ask Members who have party representatives on the foreign affairs committee to ensure transparency this time.

We will be putting on the Order Paper a motion that was passed by the European Parliament and supported by Fine Gael MEPs. When we asked for it to be supported by Fine Gael and the Labour Party in the Houses, they would not do so. When we resubmit the motion next week, I ask that they do so and call for the immediate release of Ibrahim Halawa.