French investigative journalist Ariane Lavrilleux, who works for French outlet “Disclose” as well as the magazine “Complément d’enquête”, has been detained by police since Tuesday, September 19, by order of the French interior intelligence (DGSI). 

This measure was taken as part of an investigation over her reporting, mainly on the alleged diverting of a French antiterrorist operation called “Opération Sirli” by Egypt. Accusations against the journalist raise worries concerning press freedom and respecting the secrecy of sources. 

Ariane Lavrilleux is detained for publishing five articles since 2019, all about French arms sales to foreign countries. One of these flagship investigations is about the “Sirli” operation in Egypt, where a French intelligence mission, initially launched in 2016 to fight terrorism, is said to have been diverted by the Egyptian authorities to other ends, notably to target smugglers at the border between Egypt and Libya. 

According to documents classified as “secret-defense” obtained by Disclose, these operations led to at least 19 bombing raids against civilians between 2016 and 2018. This revelation pushed the French ministry of Armies to file a lawsuit for “violating the secrecy of national Defense”, sparking a preliminary investigation in November 2021 and the designation of an investigating judge during the summer of 2022.

Other investigations by Ariane Lavrilleux are also targeted by the DGSI, including some on the sale of 30 Rafale fighter aircrafts to Egypt, on arms delivery to Russia until 2020, on the sale of 150 000 shells to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the transfer of illicit weapons from the Emirates to Libya. 

These investigations raise crucial questions about the transparency of arms sales and the use of these arms in international conflicts. The Disclose media outlet insists on the fact the freedom to inform must be preserved, even when revelations bother the authorities. 

Organizations that defend press freedom, such as Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), have expressed their worry over the possibility that DGSI actions harm the secrecy of journalistic sources. This case also calls to mind the case of Mathias DEstal and Geoffrey Livolsi, co-founders of DIsclose, who were summoned by the DGSI in 2019 for revealing the use of French weapons against civilian populations in Yemen, also based on confidential documents.