Egypt expels British journalist in media crackdown ahead of elections

A British journalist for The Times was arrested, threatened with trial in a military court and deported from Egypt, the newspaper said Saturday.

Bel Trew was detained by plain-clothes police in late February while doing an interview in a central Cairo cafe. 

She was held for several hours without access to a lawyer or British diplomats, she said, and then told she could either get on a flight out of Egypt or face military prosecution.  

“Less than 24 hours after I was first detained, I was marched on to a plane with nothing but the clothes I was standing up in. The choice before me — stay for a military trial or leave — was no kind of choice,” Ms Trew said in an article about her experience. 

She was given no official reason for her expulsion.

Egypt’s government has severely cracked down on the media and independent Egyptian journalists are routinely harassed and jailed. But it is unusual for a foreign correspondent from a major Western outlet to be arrested.

The Times initially hoped that it was a misunderstanding that could be rectified in discussions with senior Egyptian officials. 

“The circumstances of her detention and the threats made against her were sufficiently outlandish to suggest that a mistake had been made, based on a misunderstanding,” the newspaper said in a statement. 

“It is now clear that the authorities have no intention of allowing her to return. 

“The Times deplores this attempt by the Egyptian authorities to intimidate the media and suppress our coverage. This is sadly in line with the increasingly oppressive environment that President Sisi has created for both domestic and international press.”

There was no immediate comment from the Egyptian government. 

Egypt is among the worst countries in the world for press freedom and is ranked 161 out 180 on the 2017 World Press Freedom Index.

The government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has become particularly sensitive about foreign reporting ahead of this month’s election, which the president is expected to win overwhelmingly after all credible opponents were arrested or intimidated out of the race.

Egypt has also bridled over reporting on human rights abuses in the northern Sinai, where the military is carrying out a major counter-terrorism operation against jihadist groups.

The government also angrily denounced a report by the BBC investigating allegations that Egyptian security forces are responsible for torture and widespread forced disappearances. 

Ms Trew said she was now on a list of “undesirable people” and would be re-arrested if she returned to Egypt. 

“In the end I am leaving behind seven years of my life, my friends, my flat and two rescue cats. I am cauterising bits of my heart to dull the searing pain of losing Egypt, a country that was my home and a place I deeply love,” she said.