Egypt
Journalist detained in airportPosted Oct 12 2009
Per Bjorkland, a Swedish freelance journalist and blogger based in Cairo, was detained at the Egyptian airport when he tried to enter the country with his girlfriend Sept. 28. Bjorkland has lived in Egypt for three years covering Egyptian labor issues for Swedish publications while also blogging about it in English.
According to the Associated Press, Bjorkland was held by order of State Security. Bjorkland said he was told that he was on a blacklist. Bjorkland was held for 48 hours and then sent on a plane back to Prague. He arrived in Stockholm on Oct. 1. No official reason has been given for his deportation. Bjorkland writes on his blog, “I'm too tired to write in detail about this bitter experience or speculate about the reasons behind it right now.”
This is not the first time a journalist has been expelled from Egypt without a given reason. Four weeks ago, Travis Randall, an American journalist and blogger also based in Egypt, was deported with no official reason after being held for 12 hours.
More information
- Reporters Without Borders
- International Freedom of Expression Exchange