Repression by autocratic states abroad is also happening in Switzerland, and the human rights hub Geneva is particularly exposed to this threat. Swiss authorities are making timid attempts to address the problem. “I didn’t expect to experience this in Geneva,” says Basma Mostafa, an Egyptian investigative journalist who is now a refugee in Germany. “They followed me for three days in a row, right into my hotel,” she continues, recalling her last stay in Switzerland last year. “On the third day, a man approached me. He told me in Arabic that he knew who I was, that he belonged to the Egyptian security forces and that he could arrest me if he wanted to,” adds the young woman, who has for several years been victim of repression in her native country. “That night I couldn’t sleep at all. I was afraid they would come back and kidnap me.” >> Find out more about the Egyptian investigative journalist Basma Mostafa in our portrait article: Mostafa does not know exactly who these men were ...
