France: EFJ condemns the summoning of Disclose journalist Ariane Lavrilleux for possible indictment
Ariane Lavrilleux, the French journalist who revealed France’s complicity in state crimes in Egypt in November 2021, is once again facing justice. The journalist, who works for the investigative media Disclose, was summoned on 17 January 2025 for possible indictment for “appropriation and disclosure of a national defence secret”, the investigative media Disclose announced. The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) condemns the judicial harassment of Ariane Lavrilleux and calls for respect for the fundamental democratic principle guaranteeing the protection of journalistic sources.
In November 2021, Lavrilleux contributed to an investigation revealing a secret French military operation in Egypt, “Operation Sirli,” aimed at the arbitrary execution of hundreds of Egyptian civilians. An investigation against the journalist was then opened in July 2022 “for compromising national defense secrets and revealing information that could lead to the identification of a protected agent.”
In September 2023, Ariane Lavrilleux was questioned at the police headquarters in Marseille before being released without charge after 39 hours in police custody. Her home was also searched.
“According to the elements of the judicial investigation that Ariane Lavrilleux has learned of, her actions were tracked by police officers from the DGSI, a service usually mobilised in the fight against terrorism and counter-espionage. Our journalist was subjected to physical surveillance during professional and private trips; her mobile phone was geolocated in real time; her bank accounts were scrutinized, as were her SNCF ticket purchases and her private communications on the social network X. The DGSI also monitored the offices of the Disclose editorial team, in the Paris region,” denounced the investigative media. According to Disclose, since the media was created in 2018, four of their journalists have been intimidated by the internal intelligence services.
Summoned by the office of a magistrate specializing in the fight against terrorism, Lavrilleux faces a five-year prison sentence and a 75,000 euro fine for investigating France’s actions in Egypt, a subject of public interest.
“The EFJ strongly condemns the obstinacy of the French judicial authorities in criminalising investigative journalism, in defiance of European standards for the protection of sources. This judicial relentlessness reveals a shameful strategy of censorship on subjects of public interest. These pressures targeting Ariane Lavrilleux, her sources, her media outlet but also investigative journalism in general are extremely serious,” said Ricardo Gutiérrez, Secretary General of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ).
