‘I’m proud to have a problem with Sisi,’ says Italy journalist deported from Egypt

The Italian journalist who was detained and deported from Cairo airport last Thursday has told Hiwar TV channel that the Egyptian regime should be concerned because two officers apologised to her and told her this is not the true face of Egypt.

Her comments come amid reports that the Sisi regime fears an internal revolt. The president’s son, Mahmoud Al-Sisi, has banned intelligence officers from leaving the country.

Francesca Borri said that her deportation is “what happens to many journalists today in this month,” referring to the 20 September protests and the wave of arrests that followed.

Amnesty has said this is the widest crackdown carried out by the Sisi regime with over 2,300 people, including several journalists and at least 111 children, arrested.

“Foreign journalists, Egyptian journalists, we are all getting arrested and us foreign journalists are getting sent back with no explanation,” Borri added. “Just because we are journalists.”

Borri added that she attempted to get a written statement explaining why she was deported but boarded the plane without one. “I wanted to know, what was my crime,” she said.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has said that Egypt is among the top four worst jailers of journalists worldwide. The regime has blocked over 500 websites it considers to be publishing news contrary to the official government line.

READ: UK university asks students to leave Egypt

Borri confirmed that she was banned because she covered the murder of Giulio Regeni and that officials at the airport asked her questions about who her sources were in Egypt.

Borri was the first journalist in Italy to cover the Regeni murder – Giulio Regeni was tortured and murdered in 2016 due to his doctoral research into independent trade unions in the country.

The investigation into who killed Regeni has stalled given Egypt’s refusal to cooperate on the case. It is widely accepted that Regeni was killed by members of Egyptian national security agency who did not like his work.

Candlelight procession for Italian student Giulio Regeni who was murdered in Egypt [Riccardo De Luca/Anadolu Agency]

She soon realised “I was a problem, not only to Egypt but for Italy too. I expect my government not to help Sisi to send me away but to help me stay inside the country.”

Despite a break in relations between the two countries shortly after Regeni’s death, when Italy recalled their ambassador, last year Italian arms sales to Egypt reached $77 million, higher than all arms purchases between 2013 and 2019.

“I am proud to have a problem with Sisi. If you don’t have a problem with Sisi you are on the wrong side of history unfortunately for you,” added Borri.

READ: Egyptian actor accuses Sisi of ‘committing 5 crimes’