Ibrahim Halawa lawyers to meet foreign affairs committee

According to The Irish Times, the joint committee on foreign affairs yesterday invited Mr Halawa’s lawyers to an informal meeting.

The committee had rejected a proposal to meet with Mr Halawa’s lawyers last year.

Soha Gendi, Egypt’s ambassador to Ireland, was also invited by the committee but said she was not in a position to attend.

Some members of the committee have expressed concerns that further political intervention could jeopardise Mr Halawa’s case.

Earlier this month, the Dáil passed a motion recognising Mr Halawa’s detention in Cairo as “an unacceptable infringement of his basic human rights by any international standard”.

Committee member Darragh O’Brien said: “There needs to be diplomatic sensitivity around this. If things are said, it could make it more difficult to repatriate him. This is another jurisdiction, where there is a separation of powers between the judiciary and the Government.”

Fellow committee member Senator Mark Daly said it is “disappointing that the Egyptian ambassador would not appear before the committee”.