French reporter arrested over leaked secrets
CPJA French journalist was held overnight and questioned by police in connection with a 2021 report which alleged that French intelligence was used by Egypt to kill civilians.
Police reportedly searched Ariane Lavrilleux's house on 19 September and later took her into custody.
Lavrilleux's lawyer said she was questioned as part of an investigation into compromising national security.
She was released after a night in custody.
Amnesty International's Katia Roux had said she was "very worried" for the journalist at the time of her arrest.
"To put in police custody a journalist for doing her job, moreover for revealing information of public interest, could be a threat to freedom of the press and confidentiality of sources."
Lavrilleux was reportedly questioned by police officers from the French intelligence service - the General Directorate for Internal Security, or DGSI.
Her 2021 report used leaked classified documents to allege that Egyptian authorities used French intelligence to bomb and kill smugglers on the Egyptian-Libyan border between 2016 and 2018.
According to the report, French forces were implicated in "at least 19 bombings" against civilians.
It was published by Disclose, a French investigative journalism website.
Disclose said that French authorities under the presidencies of President François Hollande and President Emmanuel Macron were "constantly informed" of the developments by staff at "several military departments", but that their concerns were ignored.
At the time of publication, Disclose acknowledged that the report included national security secrets but said that it was sharing them "in the name of a fundamental principle of democracy: the right to information".
"The notion of 'classified information' cannot be invoked to protect a campaign of arbitrary executions against civilians," Disclose said.
It also said that, by publishing the report, it was knowingly taking the risk to "contravene the law".
After the articles were published, France's armed forces ministry filed a legal complaint for "violation of national defence secrets".
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned Lavrilleux's arrest, asked that all criminal investigations against her are dropped and said police should refrain from questioning her over her sources.
"Journalists must be able to freely report on national defence and security issues. Questioning reporters about their confidential sources places them under unwarranted pressure and could have a chilling effect on defence reporting," said Attila Mong, CPJ's Europe representative.
Rights groups condemn arrest of French journalist over defense reporting
Reuters
PARIS, Sept 19 (Reuters) - A French reporter was arrested and her home searched on Tuesday in connection with a report two years ago by online media outlet Disclose that said French intelligence was being misused by Egypt, the outlet and the reporter's lawyer said.
Rights groups condemned the arrest of reporter Ariane Lavrilleux, who authored the report that said French intelligence intended to track jihadist militants had been misused by Egypt to target smugglers on the Libyan border and kill civilians. Its publication prompted France's armed forces minister to call for an investigation.
Lavrilleux's lawyer, Virginie Marquet, said her client was being questioned by a judge and police officers from the French intelligence service DGSI as part of an investigation into compromising national security.
"It's a rather uncommon procedure," Marquet told Reuters. "It goes up a notch when it comes to coercive measures against journalists."
The DGSI did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Journalist detained, home searched over reporting on French intelligence, news outlet says
French investigative news outlet Disclose says one of its reporters has been arrested and her residence searched by the country’s domestic intelligence agency
ByTHOMAS ADAMSON
September 19, 2023
PARIS -- A French journalist was arrested and her residence searched Tuesday by the country’s domestic intelligence agency, her employer the investigative news outlet Disclose, said.
Disclose said reporter Ariane Lavrilleux's detention was linked to her reporting on leaked documents implicating French intelligence's alleged role in the Egyptian government's alleged targeting of civilians.
The media outlet called the detention an “unacceptable” assault on press freedoms.
The General Directorate of Internal Security opened an investigation in July 2022 into Disclose's work, which it said was “compromising national defense secrets and revealing information that could lead to the identification of a protected agent."
The allegations stem from a series of exposés initiated in November 2021 in which Disclose chronicled the alleged misuse of French military intelligence by the Egyptian military in an operation originally meant to identify Islamic militants.
The scope of Operation Sirli allegedly expanded to facilitate nearly 20 targeted strikes conducted by the Egyptian military against individuals returning to Egypt from Libya between 2016 and 2018 who were suspected of smuggling. But subsequent reports said many of those targeted were not militants, a severe breach in protocols regarding the targeting of civilians and evoking potential human rights violations.
In a post on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Disclose said that its reporting “relied on several hundred top secret documents to unveil a campaign of arbitrary executions” orchestrated by Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah el-Sissi “with the complicity of the French state.”
A spokesman for the Egyptian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to phone calls and a message seeking comment Tuesday.
Tuesday's arrest was likely to intensify scrutiny and prompt questions in French media over the country's alleged role in and record on human rights in Egypt.
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