French journalist released after arrest for reporting on spy operations in Egypt

(Patria) - French police on Thursday released journalist Ariane Lavrilleux, who was arrested after reporting on leaked documents alleging that French intelligence was used against civilians in Egypt, from two-day detention, AFP reported.

The investigative website Disclose published a series of articles in November 2021 based on hundreds of classified documents. They allege that the Egyptian state used information from a French counterintelligence operation in Egypt, code-named "Sirli," for "campaigns of arbitrary killings" against smugglers operating along the Libyan border.

On Tuesday, Lavrilleux's home was searched and she was arrested for questioning by agents of the DGSI, France's domestic intelligence agency, Disclose reported on X (formerly Twitter).

This was described as an "unacceptable attack on source confidentiality" by the Society of Journalists and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

"We fear that the DGSI's actions will undermine source confidentiality," RSF said.

Lavrilleux said on X that she had been released. Lavrilleux and Disclose's lawyer Virginie Marquet confirmed that she was released without any charges at this stage. A former military member also taken into custody on Tuesday, however, will appear before a judge to face further criminal proceedings, another source said.

In the initial articles, Disclose alleged that French forces were complicit in at least 19 bombing attacks on smugglers between 2016 and 2018 in the region.

The documents showed that there were warnings from officials within the French government, but the operation was not questioned, Disclose reported.

The French Ministry of the Armed Forces filed a complaint for "breach of national defense secrecy" after the article's publication, and the Paris prosecutor's office opened a case in July 2022, which was subsequently handed over to the DGSI.