After Nationalizing Media in Egypt: How Did Citizen Reporters Expose the Zambia Plane Corruption Story?

In the shadow of deliberate concealment by the Egyptian regime, led by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, an alarming incident emerged.

On that fateful August 15, 2023, a plane was seized in Zambia, carrying a clandestine cargo of smuggled dollars and gold — suspected to be linked with a corruption case.

However, piercing through the veil of secrecy, a significant figure rose to prominence: two journalists. In a narrative where truth hung in the balance, these individuals assumed a pivotal role. Their resolute dedication served as a beacon, unraveling intricate details that demanded exposure.

The champion of the Zambia plane information, the phenomenon of “citizen reporters” or open sources, emerged through youth working on investigative journalism accounts like Matsda2sh and Saheeh Masr, among others, which exposed this suspicious activity seemingly linked to intelligence agencies through evidence they published.

Most of the news published about the secrets of this plane and its cargo did not come from the usual sources like newspapers, agencies, or television but from  “citizen reporters” who possess computers or phones, Internet access, and conduct research and investigation to gather information.

Some of these young individuals successfully used open-source tools and flight-tracking websites. They analyzed photos and videos published about the incident and unveiled the undisclosed details about the plane that the Egyptian regime had intentionally kept silent about.

 

Security Obsession

The security and media obsession exhibited by the Sisi regime against pages like Matsda2sh, Saheeh Masr, Al-Mawkef Al-Masry, and others substantiated the accuracy of the information exposed by these open sources, revealing the truth about the plane and its occupants.

Upon inspecting a private jet arriving from Egypt in the previous week, Zambian authorities stumbled upon an enigmatic treasure trove. Among its contents were multimillion-dollar stacks of currency, numerous bars resembling gold, and an assortment of weaponry.

Subsequently, a dozen individuals, six of whom were Egyptian nationals, were apprehended, triggering a whirlwind of conjecture in both nations. The incident prompted Zambian officials to initiate an investigation labeled as a “gold scam,” provoking a notably tense reaction from Egyptian governmental circles.

Zambian authorities swiftly disclosed that the purported gold was, in truth, an imitation, ingeniously crafted from copper and zinc — a ploy likely designed to dupe foreign investors.

Addressing the matter, Nason Banda, the Director General of Zambia’s Drug Enforcement Commission, unequivocally stated, “This incident squarely points to a case of elaborate fraud — specifically, a gold scam.” He made this declaration during a press conference held days after the raid on August 14, revealing that the airport investigators had received a preemptive tip-off about the dubious cargo carried by the plane.

The arrest of journalist Karim Asaad, a member of the editorial team of Matsda2sh based in Cairo, and the physical assault and threats he and his wife faced, including threats against their child, despite the regime’s previous claims that the page was operated by the Muslim Brotherhood in Turkiye, further underscores the credibility of these young individuals.

Officers who arrested Asaad accessed the platform from his phone and deleted two articles that implicated police and army officers in connection with the plane, according to Matsda2sh and the Mada Masr on August 19, 2023. This incident illustrates the success of the “citizen reporter” role.

Matsda2sh is an independent journalistic platform founded in 2018 by the late investigative journalist Mohamed Aboul Gheit while he was in London, according to its own definition.

It also identifies itself as a group of young Egyptian journalists not affiliated with any political parties or groups, who have been working professionally for the past five years, well aware that they only carry out their journalistic work with professionalism.

Observers noted that the frenzy that gripped the authorities following the revelation of details about the flight’s path from Cairo and the involvement of Egyptian suspects in smuggling gold and dollars from the VIP lounge showcased an obsession. Among those arrested were an officer, a military attaché’s assistant, and gold traders. This highlighted the credibility of the information revealed by citizen reporters, particularly through platforms like Matsda2sh.

Critics ridiculed the security apparatus of Sisi for possessing newspapers and television stations and investing millions in establishing media outlets, producing series, and directing actors to manipulate public opinion with controlled content under intense security supervision. Yet, citizen reporters emerged to expose and dismantle all of that.

Activists stated that the efforts of various pages specializing in fact-checking and sourcing information from open channels, despite limited budgets, enabled them to outperform security agencies and authorities.

The Facebook page Al-Mawkef Al-Masry pondered: “Why did the Egyptian intelligence squander billions of pounds seizing the media, establishing channels, and producing films and series if the only role of the media is to delete news?"

Rights advocate Hossam Bahgat mocked the Sisi intelligence apparatus for nationalizing the media. He pointed out how all social media platforms and open sources have exposed them.

On August 16, Bahgat tweeted: “Officials destroyed official media, bought private media, and established the caricature-like ‘Cairo’ channel, leaving the entire Egyptian population devoid of Egyptian journalists, only to have groups of ordinary people sharing news from Zambian sources to understand the airplane incident.”

Journalist Gamal Sultan expressed astonishment in a tweet on August 19 at the security apparatus’ practice of compelling media personnel under its supervision in TV stations and newspapers to remain silent regarding the incident of the smuggled gold and dollar airplane.

Meanwhile, the same security agencies deployed their electronic teams to comment, disrupt, and downplay the significance of the incident.

On August 18, 2023, the Middle East Eye reported that it was the investigations of open sources that revealed the presence of an Egyptian army colonel and a military advisor on board the private plane, which was carrying millions of dollars, weapons, and gold, before being seized by Zambian authorities.

 

 

Media Blackout

On August 15, 2023, Zambian authorities announced the seizure of millions of dollars, weapons, ammunition, and large quantities of gold aboard a private plane en route from Egypt to Zambia.

The Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) stated in a Facebook post that they had received information about a chartered plane carrying hazardous cargo. Upon inspection, they discovered 602 pieces of gold weighing 127.2 kilograms, devices for weighing gold, $5.7 million, five rifles, seven weapon stores, and 126 rounds.

Upon revealing the incident, Egyptian news websites such as Al-Masry Al-Youm and Cairo 24 initially reported the plane’s detention, then deleted the news.

The website Arabi 21 stated that “Egyptian media received orders from sovereign entities not to publish any news about the plane.”

The fact that Egyptian newspapers published and then deleted the news added to the mystery and raised questions about the reasons behind the orders from the Samsung agency, referring to the intelligence agency responsible for instructing newspapers to remove the news.

Activists and human rights advocates began speculating that the deletion of the news implied that those involved from the “big whales” had connections to the regime’s officials, as human rights advocate Haytham Abokhalil suggested in a tweet on August 15, 2023.

The participation of the deputy and journalist closely associated with the authorities, Mostafa Bakry, in the campaign defending businessman Ibrahim Arjani further raised suspicions. This prompted social media platforms to delve deeper into the connection between Arjani and the plane.

The official silence from the Egyptian authorities, despite the accusations issued by the Zambian authorities, even angered supporters of the Sisi regime. Lawyers Tarek el-Awady and Khaled Abou Bakr demanded officials respond to the scandal.

El-Awady wrote, “Could the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs release a statement to inform us about anything, considering that we are citizens??? The ongoing situation is shameful. People are following the news from sources and newspapers outside of Egypt. Say something, I won’t keep quiet, May God expose you.”

After the revelation of the aircraft’s connection to individuals linked to the regime and intelligence, an anonymous “source” denied the incident to the official Egyptian news agency Middle East News Agency (MENA).

The “source” attempted to confuse the situation between two planes, insisting that one was inspected in Egypt while the other was not Egyptian.

However, a former source from the Ministry of Civil Aviation, speaking to Mada Masr, dismissed the possibility that the aircraft seized in Zambia had undergone inspection at Cairo Airport, as it was in transit, or that the bags inside had been inspected.

The Egyptian press and committees associated with the Sisi regime fumbled in their handling of the scandal. They sometimes claimed the plane was Lebanese, while at other times labeled it the “Brotherhood’s plane.”

They even fabricated a photo of businessman Youssef Nada, a prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood, standing next to the plane. This only deepened the mystery and prompted independent platforms to dive deeper into the information.

Citizen reporters began investigating the truth, and Matsda2sh succeeded in tracing the flight paths of the planes through navigation data available on the ADS-B Exchange website. They found that the aircraft departed from Amman Airport in Jordan on August 12, 2023, arrived at Cairo Airport at night, and then took off again on the morning of August 13 to reach the Zambian capital, where it was seized.

Three weeks before the aircraft scandal, artist and activist Amr Waked tweeted on July 26, 2023, confirming that “officials from the Sisi regime have started smuggling their funds abroad.”

 

Who Is the Smuggler?

The first person to publish about the plane’s connection to Sisi’s son (Mahmoud) and his friend, businessman Ibrahim al-Argani, a figure associated with army generals, was the Sinai-based opposition figure Massaad Abu Fajr. He revealed this information on Twitter from abroad.

Abu Fajr stated that sources he trusted informed him that al-Argani was on the Zambian plane. Later, he changed his stance to say that it was his son (Essam) who was on the plane. The Sisi regime’s committees circulated a picture, casting doubt on Abu Fajr’s claims and showing Essam standing on a bridge in Cairo, aiming to prove that he was not among the accused.

Subsequently, the Matsda2sh started researching information about the plane to identify its owner or the person who chartered it.

A picture emerged showing Sisi’s associate and the leader of the Sinai tribal militias, al-Argani, along with his son Essam, standing in front of the plane, posted in early April 2022.

Taqadum al-Khatib, an opposition figure residing in Germany, discussed the intelligence’s relationship with Mahmoud Sisi and the gold and dollar smuggling plane seized in Zambia.

The Matsda2sh platform on Twitter cited data from EUROCONTROL’s database, revealing that the detained plane is registered in the Republic of San Marino and operated by a company named Flying Group Middle East, based in the Dubai Airport Free Zone in the UAE.

Other online researchers uncovered that the detained aircraft is a Bombardier Global Express XR model, and the majority of its flights were to or from Egypt, often through Cairo Airport.

The surprising revelation that sent shockwaves through the Egyptian regime’s committees, prompting them to respond vigorously in defense, and showcased the skill of the citizen reporter represented by the Matsda2sh, was the exposure of the names of five accused Egyptians detained in Zambia, despite official attempts to suppress the information.

These individuals were identified as Michael Adel Michel Boutros, Walid Refaat Fahmy Boutros, Yasser Mukhtar Abd al-Ghafour al-Shishtawi, Munir Shaker Gerges Awad, and Mohamed Abdelhak Mohamed Gooda.

With the publication of the names, other citizens, some of whom are closely connected to the accused, began sharing stories about them. Former pilot residing in the United States, Sherif Osman, confirmed that Colonel Mohamed Abdelhak and Colonel Yasser al-Shishtawi from the elite Special Forces 777 Unit were involved in combating international terrorism.

He mentioned that they were attached to work for the General Intelligence Service in a newly established unit during Sisi’s reign, and their role became the protection of important figures.

This implied that they might have been protecting the “sixth accused,” whose name was never disclosed and who is rumored to be a high-profile figure.

Colonel Mohamed Abdelhak previously worked, according to the U.S. Department of State’s archive, as the assistant military attaché at the Egyptian embassy in Washington, DC, during 2011 and 2012. His rank at the time was Major in the army, as reported by Matsda2sh.

As for Michael Adel Michel Boutros, his name appeared in the records of English companies as the owner of Amstone International Limited, a company specializing in providing military consultancy to armies to enhance their defensive capabilities.

The company has several offices in the United States, UAE, Egypt, France, Greece, England, and Poland. The company participated in the Egypt Defence Expo in 2021.

The accused, Munir Shaker Gerges Awad, works as a gold trader and owns a jewelry factory named Shaker Gold Factory Genius Gold. His father, Shaker Georges Awad, was the former president of the jewelers and goldsmiths association in the East Delta.

Another accused, Sedrick Kasanda, who was apprehended by Zambia’s Drug Enforcement Commission along with 12 others (including 6 Egyptians and individuals from the Netherlands, Spain, and Latvia), is known as the “Gold Man” in Zambia.

He frequently posted pictures and videos of himself alongside what appears to be large amounts of gold, which confirms the suspicion that the plane was involved in gold smuggling, as reported by Zambian news source News Diggers on August 17, 2023.

 

‘Citizen Reporter’

The concept of “citizen reporters” emerged in Egypt during the coverage of the 2010 parliamentary elections. Ordinary citizens played a role by using their smartphones’ cameras to document instances of forgery and manipulation amidst media blackout and lack of coverage by mainstream newspapers.

During that time, testimonies from citizens started flooding the internet, detailing what they saw and captured with their mobile phones and cameras regarding the events both inside and outside voting stations. Mainstream media outlets picked up this information from citizen reporters and published their accounts.

Over time, this experiment gained momentum and started to compete with traditional newspapers. Citizen reporters began to rival mainstream newspapers, often relaying news via social media accounts and even employing “citizen reporters” to provide news updates.

The Arab Spring in 2011 unleashed the power of “citizen reporters” to cover mass demonstrations calling for change and violent clashes at a time when official media intentionally obscure events.

Technology played a pivotal role in this phenomenon, revolutionizing the media landscape. Specifically designed websites and applications facilitated live video streaming, as well as the dissemination of news, images, and videos.

The traditional media’s unease with this “grassroots journalism” prompted some newspapers and TV channels to embrace this new form of popular media. Egyptian newspapers created dedicated sections where readers could submit their stories, photos, or videos captured using smartphone cameras, exposing various realities. TV channels even hired citizens to cover polling during the November 2010 parliamentary elections.

Experts in media assert that the powerful quartet — mobile phones, cameras, social media platforms, and YouTube — played unprecedented roles in igniting a media revolution that transcended global borders. There were no longer any restrictions or boundaries on words, images, or videos.

Since “citizen reporters” are not beholden to any specific organization and they don’t have complex editorial guidelines, they are free to publish without the constraints of societal, governmental, political, or ethical limitations.

This era saw citizens uncovering hidden truths or secrets that governmental media outlets aimed to suppress. It marked a revolutionary shift in media norms, despite some errors in failing to document events accurately or spreading false news.

Nevertheless, the success lay in making it increasingly difficult to conceal facts, violations, or negatives. It became easier to reveal secrets and scandals that official media or government-controlled broadcasters, under the pressure of various governments, would hesitate to share.

Citizen reporters exposed human rights abuses, prison tortures, live-streamed protests against governments over the internet, and broadcasted heated events, all the way to publishing documents and exposing scandals like the Zambia Plane incident.