This is the second Sirli affair, a scandal within a scandal. Two years after the investigative website Disclose revealed the excesses of French-Egyptian anti-terrorist collaboration, suspected of having led to the deaths of numerous civilians, the journalist behind this scoop, Ariane Lavrilleux, had her home searched and was detained between September 19 and 20. This latest development provoked outrage within the media industry, press freedom NGOs and some members of the political opposition. In an open letter published on Thursday, September 21, some 40 journalists' associations, including that of Le Monde, denounced a "grave situation" and an "unprecedented attack on the protection of the confidentiality of sources."

But within the government, the mention of Ariane Lavrilleux's name is met with silence or feigned astonishment. Questioned by Le Monde at a press luncheon on Thursday, September 21, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said she did not have sufficient information to comment on the matter. "It's something to do with the Egyptians, isn't it? "asked a Prime Minister's adviser, who promised to follow up on our inquiries. No further reply has yet been provided.

The day before, government spokesperson Olivier Véran had been unable to conceal his discomfort over the issue at the weekly press conference following the cabinet meeting. Asserting that he did not wish to "sidestep the issue," Véran refused to speak in "an institutional setting," inviting the public to contact him at a later date to discuss "freedom of the press in our country, the country of human rights." However, when questioned outside this setting, the spokesperson did not wish to respond to our requests, nor did the Ministry of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of the Interior. The Elysée also did not provide any further insight: "As guarantor of the independence of the judiciary, the president cannot comment on an ongoing legal case that aims to determine whether or not the law has been respected."

Titled "Les mémos de la terreur" ("Memos of terror") and published on November 21, 2021, Disclose's investigation was based on secret defense documents whose authenticity has never been challenged. The article reveals how a French military intelligence mission, supposed to help Cairo prevent jihadist infiltration of the Egyptian-Libyan desert, was hijacked by Egypt's government for internal repression. The information gathered by the French surveillance aircraft used by the Egyptian army is alleged to have led to the bombing of networks of arms, drug and migrant smugglers. Despite several alarming memos, copies of which are available from Disclose, Paris has maintained its collaboration with the regime of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

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