Egypt - Q&A - Excerpts from the daily press briefing (22.01.19)
Q - In the fall of 2017, President Macron gave President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi a list of a dozen or so Egyptian political prisoners in order to call for their release. Since the re-election of the president in 2018, 15 journalists, as well as almost 40 lawyers and human rights activists (according to HRW), have been arrested. Have some individuals been removed from the 2017 list because they have been released? If so, how many? Will a new expanded list be given to the Egyptian president during his meeting with President Macron?
A - We engage in open and regular dialogue with Egypt on the issue of human rights.
We want to continue to discuss this issue, including with respect to individual cases, in order to achieve results, while reaffirming to the Egyptian authorities that this dialogue on human rights forms an integral part of our strategic partnership.