British journalist who worked for the newspaper The Guardian in Egypt was forced to leave the country after being punished last week for reporting on the new coronavirus being tried " dishonest "wrote the daily Thursday, March 26.
In an article published on Thursday, the British media revealed that journalist Ruth Michaelson, from whom the Egyptian authorities withdrew her accreditation on March 17, was finally forced to leave Egypt three days later. The newspaper specifies that "Western diplomats" have warned Mme Michaelson, "That the country's security services wanted her to leave the country immediately after her press accreditation was canceled".
On March 15, the correspondent wrote an article in which she quoted a Canadian study claiming that Egypt could have more than 19,000 cases of new coronavirus instead of the few hundred officially announced.
According to the General Information Organization (SIS), which regulates the activity of foreign media in the country, the figure disseminated comes from a “Unpublished (…) and scientifically unrecognized study”, which would establish the "Bad faith" of the correspondent.
The correspondent of New york times, Declan Walsh, who had mentioned the study cited by the British newspaper in a tweet, was called to order by the SIS.
Mme Michaelson and Mr. Walsh have been charged by SIS with "Biased report on an unreliable study", according to Guardian. The newspaper specifies that "Egyptian officials demanded the withdrawal of the article and the publication of an official apology from the Guardian ".
" Question of life or death "
After the announcement of the withdrawal of M's accreditationme Michaelson on March 17, the newspaper claims to have offered to the Egyptian authorities to publish a letter "Refuting the Canadian article or study", but did not receive " no answer ".
In its columns Thursday, the Guardian regretted the treatment of the journalist by the Egyptian authorities, claiming to have written on the basis of "Scientific facts uncovered by experts in infectious diseases". Contacted by AFP on Thursday, the newspaper declined to add comments.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reacted on Thursday to the British daily's confirmation of the departure of Ruth Michaelson by demanding his return to Egypt.
"Information about the Covid-19 pandemic is a matter of life and death for Egyptians and the world, and should not be stifled for political reasons", wrote Sherif Mansour, the NGO’s Middle East and North Africa coordinator.
Egypt, which has officially registered 456 new coronavirus cases and 21 deaths to date, has warned that anyone spreading " false information " about the disease Covid-19 faced sanctions up to and including imprisonment.
The country occupies the 163e rank out of 180 countries in the 2019 Reporters Without Borders (RSF) press freedom ranking.
Several journalists have been expelled from Egypt in recent years. The most recent was the correspondent for the British newspaper The Times, Bel Trew, expelled early 2018.
