Egypt deports British reporter in media crackdown ahead of elections
Bel Trew, who works for The Times of London, says she was arrested, expelled and warned not to come back
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CAIRO — Egyptian authorities have arrested a British journalist and expelled her as part of an escalating crackdown on media ahead of this month’s presidential elections.
Saturday’s statement by The Times newspaper in London said that Bel Trew had been detained and faced “sufficiently outlandish” threats before she was expelled in late February.
The British daily says attempts to bring about Trew’s safe return to Cairo to cover the elections have been made but to no avail.
Trew says she had been listed as a persona non-grata and that Cairo authorities threatened to re-arrest her if she attempts to return.
I've lived in #Egypt for 7 years, it's my beloved home and I'm not sure when I can return. I was arrested after doing an interview and threatened with military trial unless I got on a plane. Like others, I still don't know what happened:https://t.co/m5EmyP8bg7
— Bel Trew (@Beltrew) March 24, 2018
Egypt has detained, jailed and prosecuted journalists under President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who led the military’s 2013 overthrow of an elected Islamist president.
Egypt ranks near the bottom of press freedom indexes.
The Times of Israel Community.