Irishman cleared of charges in Egypt after four years in prison

An Irish man who was facing a death penalty in Egypt has been acquitted by a court and is expected to be released in the coming days.

Ibrahim Halawa, 21, has spent four years in prison since he was arrested during a government crackdown on protesters in August 2013 and was tried along with nearly 500 other defendants in a mass trial outside Cairo. 

He was acquitted of all charges on Monday and wept inside the courtroom’s caged dock as the verdict was read out. 

It was not clear when he would be released but Ireland’s government said it would work to bring him home to Dublin as soon as possible. 

Other defendants, including a US citizen named Ahmed Etiwy, were convicted at the end of the mass trial, which has drawn widespread criticism from human rights groups and Western governments. 

Mr Halawa was born in Ireland and grew up in Firhouse, a suburb of Dublin. His family would travel to Egypt regularly to see relatives and they were in Cairo on holiday in August 2013. 

A month earlier Egypt’s military had overthrown Mohammed Morsi, the country’s democratically-elected Muslim Brotherhood president, and thousands of people took to the streets against the coup. 

On August 14 Egyptian forces killed hundreds of protesters in what became known as the Rabaa Massacre. 

Three days after the massacre, Mr Halawa and his three sisters - Omaima, Fatima and Somaia - joined another protest but took shelter in a mosque when the situation became violent. All four were arrested when security forces stormed the mosque. 

Mr Halawa was just 17 when he was arrested. His sisters were released on bail three months after their arrests and quickly fled the country but Mr Halawa was held in prison. 

He was charged with murder, arson and illegal possession of weapons and put on trial alongside nearly 500 other people. His sisters were tried in absentia in the same court. 

All four were acquitted on Monday. Family members were seen embracing and weeping with joy outside the family home in Firhouse after the verdict was delivered. 

“This is the good news we had been hoping for,” said Simon Coveney. “Ibrahim Halawa’s name has been cleared and his innocence is confirmed. I look forward to him being released from custody without delay. My thoughts are with Ibrahim and his family at this time of great emotion for them.”

Mr Halawa’s defence lawyer said he was still in custody and the Irish government said there would be “practical procedures and formalities to be gone through before Ibrahim will be able to fly back to Dublin”. 

Mr Halawa’s father was was a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group which won Egypt’s 2012 presidential election but is now banned and considered a terrorist by the current government. 

Maya Foa, director of human rights organisation Reprieve, which had campaigned for Mr Halawa, said: "Today’s verdict is long overdue. Ibrahim was arrested as a child for the 'crime' of attending a protest, tortured, and tried facing the death penalty alongside adults in an unfair mass trial."