Gerry Adams calls on Egypt’s Sisi to release jailed Irish teenager

Ireland’s Gerry Adams wrote on Monday to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi calling for the release of an Irish teenager jailed in the North African country.

Nineteen-year-old Ibrahim Halawa has been detained since August 2013, when he was arrested during protests supporting ousted President Mohammed Morsi at the al-Fateh mosque in Cairo.

He is accused – along with 493 others – of murder and attempted murder during clashes with security forces at the protests, charges rejected by Amnesty International as being implausible.

Sinn Fein leader Adams said he was worried Halawa’s trial has been dragging on without progress, and called for the teenager to be released and brought home to Ireland.

“[Halawa’s] family are deeply worried for Ibrahim’s mental well-being after his case was adjourned earlier this month for the seventh time,” Adams wrote. “Ibrahim and his three sisters were among those arrested after taking refuge in a mosque during protests in Cairo. The next court date has been set for 2 August.”

“I ask you to intervene on humanitarian grounds to ensure Ibrahim’s speedy release and return to his family in Ireland.”

The Sinn Fein press release said that Halawa is now on hunger strike in prison.

Egypt has been in the midst of ongoing turmoil since the 2013 ousting of the country’s first democratically elected president – Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi.

Thousands of people have been jailed in a crackdown led by former army chief turned president Sisi, while hundreds of others have been sentenced to death in swift trials condemned by human rights groups.

Morsi himself had a death sentence confirmed on Monday, for his role in an alleged prison break out during the 2011 revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak.