US arrests man for allegedly working as foreign agent for Egypt
US authorities have arrested a man from New York state for allegedly working as a foreign agent of the Egyptian government, the Justice Department said on Thursday.
The department said that Pierre Girgis, 39, was acting as an agent of the Egyptian government without notifying the US, and he "allegedly tracked and obtained information regarding political opponents of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi".
Girgis's work also included allegedly using his connections to US law enforcement to collect non-public information "at the direction of Egyptian officials" and arranging US law enforcement training for visiting Egyptian officials.
According to the indictment, in March 2019, Girgis discussed the issue of US police trainings with an Egyptian official.
During a telephone conversation, an unnamed Egyptian official instructed Girgis "to find out if there are any police trainings happening in Manhattan in the coming days, and if so, who are the people in charge of these trainings? We would like to attend".
He could face up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted on all charges, according to the Justice Department.
"The Department of Justice will not allow agents of foreign governments to operate in the United States to pursue and collect information about critics of those governments," Matthew Olsen, assistant attorney general for national security, said in a statement.
"Working at the direction of the Egyptian government, Girgis agreed to target its perceived critics located in the United States. This indictment begins the process of holding him accountable for his actions in contravention of our laws and values."
Transnational repression
Under Sisi, who seized power in a military coup in 2013, Egypt has embarked on a brutal crackdown on dissent, jailing more than 60,000 critics and imposing strict censorship measures on public discourse, according to rights groups.
This repression campaign has also extended outside of the country's own borders, according to a report by the Freedom Initiative which found that US citizens, permanent residents and visa holders have been targeted by the Egyptian government.
The report said that at least 26 family members of US-based Egyptians were held in detention by Cairo authorities in 2020 as a means to coerce them back to Egypt - where they may face imprisonment.
Last year, plain-clothes Egyptian security forces raided the homes of six members of Egyptian-American activist Mohamed Soltan's family, in apparent retaliation for his advocacy in the US.
Egyptians in western countries have for years lived in fear of Cairo's long arm of repression reaching their doors. Dissidents living in Germany told Middle East Eye last month that they are being threatened and spied on by their country's feared intelligence service.
In November 2020, Germany's Public Prosecutor General filed espionage charges against an Egyptian-German citizen who worked at the government press office and gathered information for an Egyptian intelligence agency.
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