Egyptian Repression Targets Journalist Even In Exile

(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Even in exile, Egyptian journalist Basma Mostafa cannot escape her country's grip: surveillance, intimidation, and threats have trailed her from Cairo to Germany. In Geneva, she tells a story that exposes the growing reach of transnational repression. This content was published on August 19, 2025 - 09:00 6 minutes

Based in Geneva, I cover the work of the United Nations and other international organisations there. My focus is on humanitarian aid, human rights, and peace diplomacy. I studied business and economics at the University of Lausanne before training as a journalist and joining SWI swissinfo in 2021.

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• Deutsch de Journalistin Basma Mostafa, von Ägypten bis ins Exil verfolgt Read more: Journalistin Basma Mostafa, von Ägypten bis ins Exil verfolg
• Français fr Basma Mostafa, cible de la répression égyptienne jusque dans son exil Original Read more: Basma Mostafa, cible de la répression égyptienne jusque dans son exi
• العربية ar في منفاها الإجباري... المصرية بسمة مصطفى ضحية للقمع والمطاردة Read more: في منفاها الإجباري... المصرية بسمة مصطفى ضحية للقمع والمطارد

When we spoke with Mostafa in the discreet conference room of a Geneva NGO one hot summer's evening, nothing in her smiling face betrays the constant fear that haunts her. Yet the Egyptian investigative journalist exiled in Germany has been the victim of constant threats, pressure and surveillance from her country of origin.

Today, Mostafa typifies the struggle against what is known as transnational repression, a worldwide phenomenon involving various intimidation tactics aimed at silencing critical voices among political exiles. Nothing, however, suggested at the beginning that she was going to have to take on this role.

>> To find out more about how transnational repression manifests itself in Switzerland, read our article on the subject:

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