Liliane Daoud, a former BBC reporter, was June 28th forcibly removed from her Cairo home by plain-clothes police, separated from her husband, and placed on a plane to Beirut. Her detention came just moments after she had been dismissed by privately owned TV station ONTV.

Daoud, who has British and Lebanese roots and who has held a UK passport since 2004, worked originally for the BBC’s World Service and on its BBC Arabic TV channel.  She reportedly moved back to Egypt in 2011.

She anchored a news and current affairs show for ONTV, The Full Picture, but the programme has been critical of Egypt’s new government. Her lawyer, Zyad al-Elaimy, told The Times newspaper that her dismissal was related to her work contract, but he had not been permitted to talk until she was on the aircraft.

Egypt’s President Sisi is employing a tough approach to any criticism of him or the State. Some 23 reporters and journalists are currently being held, and earlier in June it sentenced two Al-Jazeera journalists to death for their alleged involvement in state security issues.

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