Ariane Lavrilleux’s Arrest: A New Chapter in France’s Press Repression

In a move that raised concerns about press freedom in France, the police arrested Ariane Lavrilleux, an investigative journalist who had reported on the Macron government’s controversial arms deals with Egypt, at her home this week.

They also seized her computer and phone, according to a statement from her employer, Disclose, a nonprofit news organization.

Lavrilleux, who co-authored a series of reports called “Egypt Papers” based on leaked documents from the French Defense Ministry, was accused by the public prosecutor of compromising national defense secrets and endangering the identity of a secret agent.

She was taken into custody by agents of the General Directorate of Security (DGSI), the domestic intelligence service, under the supervision of an investigating judge.

Disclose denounced the arrest as “a serious and alarming situation” and said that the authorities were trying to force Lavrilleux to reveal her sources.

The organization said that it had acted in the public interest by exposing the French government’s role in supplying weapons to Egypt despite its human rights violations.

 

Press Freedom.

Disclose denounced the raid as an attack on press freedom and the protection of journalistic sources in a statement.

Reporters Without Borders, an international organization that defends media freedom, also condemned the police action and demanded that the General Directorate of Security respect the right of journalists to protect their sources.

Pavol Szalai, the head of Western Europe at Reporters Without Borders, said in media statements that the French police operation was an escalation of pressure on journalists to force them to reveal their sources.

He said that this was a worrying trend, as the protection of sources was one of the pillars of press freedom.

He added that France had historical challenges in this regard and that such pressure often did not achieve the police’s objectives.

He noted that France ranked 24th in the press freedom index for 2023, which was a good ranking, but that such pressure to reveal journalistic sources was one of the weaknesses of press freedom in France.

Szalai said that Reporters Without Borders was closely following the case of Lavrilleux’s arrest and raid and vowed to take action to secure her release and to stop the police from pursuing her legally.

 

Attempt to Silence

As France faced a wave of protests over its pension reform plan, journalists covering the events faced a harsh crackdown from the police.

The Interior Ministry acknowledged 36 cases of police violence against reporters, but the actual number could be higher, as some journalists did not file complaints.

Police brutality was not a new phenomenon, as journalists had also been targeted during the previous yellow vests protests that rocked the country in 2018 and 2019. At least 57 reporters were injured in those protests, according to the journalists’ union.

The French government also tried to pass a controversial bill in 2020 that would ban filming the police in action, sparking outrage from the media and civil society.

The bill was seen as an attempt to silence journalists and undermine press freedom, which is enshrined in the French constitution.

Even though the bill was eventually amended after massive public pressure, some of its provisions remained contentious.

The situation of journalists in France was criticized by Reporters Without Borders, an international watchdog group that advocates for press freedom.

In its annual report, the group said that “despite the adoption of a new national plan to maintain public order in a way that respects press freedom, reporters are still exposed to police violence.”

France ranked 34th out of 180 countries in the group’s 2020 World Press Freedom Index, down two places from the previous year.

 

Macron’s Hypocrisy

President Emmanuel Macron of France, who has often championed freedom of the press and expression, has faced accusations of hypocrisy and double standards from critics at home and abroad.

One of the repressive episodes occurred in Beirut, where Macron berated a French reporter for disclosing his secret meeting with Hezbollah leaders, a move that drew international attention.

The irony was not lost on many observers, as Macron had just declared that the French president “should never interfere with the editorial line chosen by journalists.”

This was not the first time that Macron’s actions contradicted his words. In the aftermath of the beheading of a French teacher who showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his students, Macron defended the right to caricature religious figures, sparking outrage and protests across the Muslim world.

But when a Mauritanian cartoonist, Khaled Ould Moulay Idriss, drew a critical caricature of Macron himself, the French embassy in Mauritania terminated his contract.

Macron’s record on press freedom has also been tarnished by his handling of the Yellow Vest movement, a populist uprising that challenged his economic policies and leadership style.

Journalists covering the protests, which were often met with violent police repression, suffered serious injuries from rubber bullets, tear gas, and batons. Some had their equipment seized or destroyed by the authorities.

Another challenge for press freedom in France is the concentration of media ownership in the hands of a few wealthy individuals and corporations, who often have close ties to Macron and his party.

This raises questions about the independence and diversity of the media landscape and the potential influence of political and economic interests on editorial decisions.

Macron, who once said that “nothing is more important than a free press,” has yet to prove that he truly respects and protects the journalists who hold him and his government accountable.