Associated Press
Egypt Deports French Journalist in Latest Crackdown on Press
Egypt Deports French Journalist in Latest Crackdown on Press
Egypt deported a French journalist without explanation, the reporter
said Wednesday, the latest move in an ongoing crackdown by President
Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's government on freedom of expression and the
media.
Correspondent Remy Pigaglio, who worked for several publications
including Catholic daily La Croix and was based in Egypt since 2014, was
returning from vacation in France and prevented from entering the
country on Monday. Pigaglio said he has a valid residency work permit
and a press card, and was detained for 30 hours at Cairo International
Airport before being sent back to Paris.
Authorities took away his mobile phone and examined photos on it,
confiscated his passport, and barred him from speaking with embassy
officials and family until Monday evening, he said by telephone from
Paris. He was held overnight in a cell at the airport.
"I don't understand it at all, and still don't know why they decided to
ban me from entering the territory," he said, adding that he wasn't
treated badly. He said none of his photos were suspicious but that some
of them were of journalists holding a general assembly meeting at their
union headquarters amid a sit-in earlier this month.
The French ambassador to Cairo tried to intervene on his behalf but did
not manage to prevent the deportation, and is urging Egyptian
authorities to reconsider their decision, France's Foreign Ministry said
in a statement.
In Paris, Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters after a
Cabinet meeting that he protested the move, calling his Egyptian
counterpart and telling him he "couldn't remain indifferent to a
situation that infringes the freedom of the press."
French journalists in Egypt demanded an explanation, saying in a
statement that the deportation was a sign of "authorities' growing
repression of Egyptian and foreign media: surveillance, arrest,
expulsion and detention."
Journalists have been regularly detained, jailed, and prosecuted under
the rule of el-Sissi, who led the 2013 military overthrow of the
Islamist Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected but divisive
president. Foreigners working in a variety of fields have been denied
entry to Egypt without explanation.
Egypt was ranked 158 out of 180 countries in the 2015 Press Freedom
Index, according to Reporters Without Borders, a freedom of expression
advocacy group. In December, the Committee to Protect Journalists said
Egypt was second only to China as the world's worst jailer of
journalists in 2015.
One of Pigaglio's last articles covered the sit-in at the headquarters
of Egypt's journalists' union in downtown Cairo where he took the photos
on his phone, and where demonstrators were protesting the arrest of two
journalists police seized from the building.
In an unrelated development, defense lawyers said a Cairo appeals court
quashed five-year prison terms handed down on May 14 against 47
anti-government protesters convicted of breaking a law that effectively
bans street demonstrations.
However, they said the court upheld the lower tribunal's decision to
slap a fine of 100,000 pounds (about 10,000 dollars) on each of the 47
protesters. The appeals court verdict was passed late Tuesday.
The 47 were among a total of 152 protesters convicted on May 14 of
breaking the demonstrations law during protests on April 25 against the
government's decision to hand over control of two Red Sea islands to
Saudi Arabia. The 152 were sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to
five years; many were tried in absentia.
Earlier this month, a new draft bill was submitted to Egypt's parliament on regulating the media.
Journalists say it would likely bring the demise of dozens of
low-budget, online media outlets serving as refuge for young writers and
liberal activists escaping government restrictions on freedom of
expression. Awaiting approval by a parliament dominated by el-Sissi
loyalists, lawmakers are also set to approve clauses that would ban all
live video transmissions without permits. Insiders expect such permits
will be denied to non-state media.
European Union member states broadly back el-Sissi and continue to sell
Egypt sophisticated weaponry under the rationale that the country needs
the firepower to fight a growing insurgency by Islamic militants in the
Sinai Peninsula. Egypt, they argue, remains a bulwark of stability in a
volatile Middle East.
A French parliamentary delegation was in Cairo the very day Pigaglio was
detained, with Philippe Folliot, head of the French-Egyptian friendship
group in the National Assembly telling The Associated Press that
"nothing" could impact good relations between the two countries. He
later however denounced Pigaglio's expulsion on Twitter, saying that it
"doesn't improve Egypt's image."
El-Sissi's harsh crackdown on critics has left thousands jailed and
fanned doubts over his leadership, with many nations voicing concerns.
Close partner Italy has been particularly critical after an Italian
doctoral student was found tortured to death after disappearing on Jan.
25, a day that saw a massive police presence in Cairo, prompting
accusations that Egypt's security services were involved.
Italy has withdrawn its ambassador to Cairo over the case of Giulio
Regeni and said Egypt was not being sufficiently cooperative in the
investigation. Egypt denies its security services were involved in
Regeni's killing.
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*Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report.
