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Ibrahim Halawa: Irishman jailed in Egypt arrives home | Ibrahim Halawa: Irishman jailed in Egypt arrives home |
(35 minutes later) | |
An Irishman who was freed after spending more than four years in an Egyptian prison has returned home to Dublin. | An Irishman who was freed after spending more than four years in an Egyptian prison has returned home to Dublin. |
Ibrahim Halawa was 17 years old when he was arrested during a siege at the Al-Fath mosque in Cairo in August 2013. | Ibrahim Halawa was 17 years old when he was arrested during a siege at the Al-Fath mosque in Cairo in August 2013. |
Now 21, he was acquitted of all charges last month but his release from prison was delayed until last week. | |
His flight from Cairo landed at Dublin Airport on Tuesday morning and on Facebook he posted: "Home sweet home!!" | His flight from Cairo landed at Dublin Airport on Tuesday morning and on Facebook he posted: "Home sweet home!!" |
"Thank you to everyone who has caused this moment, I love you all so much," he wrote. | |
Mr Halawa and 500 others, including his three older sisters, were accused of inciting violence, riot and sabotage after their arrest. | |
His sisters were allowed to return home to Ireland within three months, but he remained imprisoned and his family led a lengthy campaign for his release. | |
Mr Halawa was released and reunited with some of his family last Thursday after being acquitted of all of the charges against him. | |
Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney told Irish national broadcaster RTÉ that it was a happy day for Mr Halawa and his family after they were reunited. | |
"I and all of my colleagues in government are very pleased that Ibrahim's ordeal is now at an end, and that he is back home with his family," he added. | |
"There will be many challenges for Ibrahim as he comes to terms with all that he has been through, and all the changes that have taken place while he has been detained in Egypt. | |
"He will need time and space in the period ahead and I hope that his privacy and that of his family will be respected." | |
Last week, the family's lawyer Darragh Mackin said Mr Halawa had spent four years of his life "in the most difficult and cruel conditions". | |
Mr Halawa protested against his detention with a series of hunger strikes, and at one stage his family said he became so weak he was using a wheelchair. | Mr Halawa protested against his detention with a series of hunger strikes, and at one stage his family said he became so weak he was using a wheelchair. |