Ibrahim Halawa ‘denied access’ to international lawyers

Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa is being held in “horrific conditions” and has limited contact with his legal team, his lawyers have said.

Mr Halawa, 20, is being prosecuted alongside 493 co-defendants in mass trial for allegedly participating in a political protest in 2013.

He was 17 at the time of his arrest and has been charged with serious offences, all of which he strongly denies. His lawyers believe that, if convicted, he may face the death penalty.

Barrister Katie O’Byrne of Doughty Street Chambers told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland: “We are instructed by his family, we have had some limited contact with him, but as his international legal team we have had no proper access to our client.

“The information that we can give is in some ways limited, however, we have very compelling evidence of the horrific conditions in which Ibrahim is held with other political prisoners in Egypt.”

She added: “We’ve been told that on June 29th there will be a verdict and sentence handed down for Ibrahim and the 493 other defendants with whom he is on trial.

“There has been no substantive trial process at all in Ibrahim’s case or for the other 494 cases.

“The case has been before the court 13 times and has been adjourned 13 times - to our knowledge there has been no substantive evidence heard, Ibrahim has not had proper access to a lawyer, no lawyer has been able to speak to the court on his behalf, to make a defence, not a shred of evidence has been presented by the Egyptian authorities and it is our belief that no evidence exists.

“This is a blatant breach of the right to a fair trial, not least because no trial has taken place before the verdict is handed down.”