Ibrahim Halawa case deferred; Justice denied

ANY faith Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa and his family might have had in Egypt’s justice system has surely disappeared over the four years he has been held in custody.

He has not been convicted of anything, but has been on trial with 493 others after being arrested at protests over the ousting of then president Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood by the military in a 2013 coup d’état.

His trial has been postponed once again but this deferral must be particularly cutting as it was expected that he would be freed yesterday and allowed to return to Ireland.

The trial, if that is what it is supposed to be, has not been conducted in a way that might be recognised as serving justice. Though arrested as a 17-year-old in 2013, substantive hearings have only begun in the last eight months. No evidence implicating Mr Halawa has been presented to the court. In these circumstances, it is not at all difficult to understand how a young man might be radicalised but it must be hoped that he, and the others so misused, resist extremism even though they have been sorely tested.