Egyptian investigation journalist, Basma Mostafa had no choice but to flee his country of origin, where the independent press undergoes systematic pressure. She has lived since 2021 in Germany.
Florian Boillot
Surveillance, intimidation, threats: Egyptian journalist Basma Mostafa has been undergoing for several years, in Germany and elsewhere, reprisals from her country of origin. Its history illustrates the growing phenomenon of transnational repression. Meeting in Geneva.
When we meet Basma Mostafa in the discreet conference room of a Geneva NGO, a Monday evening of heat wave, nothing in his smiling face betrays the constant fear that inhabits him. Egyptian investigation journalist exiled in Germany, she has been undergoing threats, pressure and surveillance of her country of origin for several years.
Today, Basma Mostafa embodies the fight against what is called transnational repression: a global phenomenon which brings together various intimidation tactics aimed at silencing critical voices within diasporas. Nothing, however, predestined her to take on this role.
>> To learn more about how transnational repression is manifested in Switzerland, read our article on this subject:
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Egyptians, Chinese or Russian, political dissidents are tracked down to Switzerland
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The repression led by autocratic states abroad does not spare Switzerland. Geneva, capital of human rights, is even particularly exposed. A threat from which the authorities are timidly seized.
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A vocation born in turmoil
Basma Mostafa grew up in a rural village five o’clock in Cairo. A peaceful childhood, far from political concerns and human rights struggles which today guide his work.
The turning point takes place in 2011. In the wake of the Arab Spring, the Egyptian revolution bursts and Basma Mostafa, then a student, is found in the turmoil. “In March 2011, my father was arbitrarily arrested by soldiers. He disappeared for two weeks, ”she recalls.
To try to find him, she goes to Tahrir, epicenter of the protest. She meets journalists and activists there. “Their work inspired me. Thanks to them, I understood how human rights were flouted in Egypt. I saw that journalism could have a real impact. It pushed me to follow this path. ”
For several years, she investigated state abuses: forced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial executions. Risky work. “It is very difficult to conduct these kinds of investigations in Egypt. I was arrested twice, ”she says.
Under the regime of President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi-former general who took power by a coup in 2013-Egypt experienced an authoritarian hardening, marked by the concentration of power and the muuse of critical voices. According to Reporters Sans Frontières, the country has become “one of the largest prisons in the world for journalists”.
Exile
In 2020, Basma Mostafa worked on “Trop” investigation “; The alleged murder of an Egyptian father by a police officer in a village near Luxor. It is arrested a third time, disappears for 24 hours, and is charged for belonging to a terrorist organization and dissemination of false news. “I risked up to 25 years in prison. So I decided to flee, ”she says.
There follow nine months of wandering between Kenya and Lebanon. With her husband and their two daughters, she lives in uncertainty. Very quickly, the family discovered that leaving Egypt is not enough to escape the grip of the regime. “Throughout this period, Egyptian agents harassed us,” she said. In Nairobi, in the hotel where they stay, men watch them, park in front of their door. With each passage of the family, they make calls in Arabic, seek to intimidate them.
Finally, asylum is granted to them in Germany. Basma Mostafa thinks he has finally found a refuge. “I really thought it all was going to stop. That in Germany, we would finally be safe, ”she says.
The start of a nightmare
But the respite is short -lived. In July 2022, she learned that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi was expected in Berlin to meet the German Chancellor of the Olaf Scholz era. Basma Mostafa is trying to register for the press conference, but his request is rejected. “They pretended to be a delay in registration, which is false. I was furious. I understood that, even here, Egyptian power could hinder my work. ”
On the day of the official visit, she participated in a demonstration. Again, it is targeted. Several speaking men surround him, insult him, one of them strikes her in the face. “From that day, everything has changed for me in Germany. My life has become a nightmare, which is still continuing today. ”
The intimidation attempts are increasing. She and her relatives receive new threats, her accounts on social networks are hacked. Even during her first trip to Geneva last year, Basma Mostafa was followed to her hotel, faced with men who threaten her with arrest. Fear settles down, and with it, isolation.
Basma Mostafa avoids gatherings of the Egyptian diaspora. “I isolate myself to protect my loved ones, but also to avoid violent confrontations in public. I fear that an unknown calls me a traitor in front of my daughters. They already ask me so many questions: why did you go to prison? Why should we leave Egypt? When will we see Grandma again? “
Late recognition
The case of Basma Mostafa caught the attention of five special United Nations reporters. In a letter dating from December 2024, these experts mandated by the Human Rights Council denounce “continuous harassment and transnational repression” suffered by the journalist and call on the Egyptian authorities to end it.
In Berlin, she continues her commitment. She co-founded the Law and Democracy Support Foundation EV-an NGO that promotes democratic principles in Egypt and the Middle East, and supports people whose rights have been flouted.
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Last April, the human rights commissioner of the German government denounced for the first time the repression of which Basma Mostafa was victim. The latter is now expecting the results of German justice, several investigations being underway.
“I haven’t lost hope,” she says. “Three years ago, I felt like I was talking in a vacuum, that nobody understood what I was going through. Today, more and more people are recognizing the problem of transnational repression. It gives me courage. “
Text reread and verified by Imogen Foulkes/SJ
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