British journalist arrested and deported from Egypt prior to presidential election

MENA

Published: 2018-03-24 15:08

Last Updated: 2024-03-29 01:13


Bel Brew was arrested on February 21st. (The Times)
Bel Brew was arrested on February 21st. (The Times)

A British journalist working for The Times was deported by Egyptian authorities last month, Reuters reported, citing the newspaper on Saturday.

Bel Trew, 33, was based in Cairo for many years, before being arrested while on the job in February - a move described by The Times as a suppression of their paper’s coverage.

"The Times deplores this attempt by the Egyptian authorities to intimidate the media and suppress our coverage," the newspaper said in a statement.

They added that Egyptian authorities have no intention of allowing Trew to return back to Egypt.

According to Reuters, the Egyptian government’s Media Center, the Ministry of Interior, and President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s office failed to respond to a request for comment.

On her part, Trew said that she was detained for 24 hours before being taken to the airport.

In 2013, three Al Jazeera journalists were arrested in Egypt and charged with reporting “false news.”

The Egyptian authorities insisted that legal action should be taken against media outlets who report what they referred to as “fake news.”

Meanwhile, human rights groups said that the continuous arresting of journalists is a crackdown on press freedom by the Egyptian government, especially that it is taking place just days before the upcoming Presidential election on 26-28 March.