German intelligence agencies may be monitoring the German delegation at the COP27 environmental summit in Egypt, according to reports from the German Federal Police (BKA).
According to a source, the BKA warned delegates in an email that they would be “overt and covertly photographed and videotaped” by Egyptian agents.
The danger of surveillance was brought on by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s remarks regarding the human rights situation in Egypt, the source claimed.
Two further German officials verified the existence of the warning but chose not to go into further detail on its exact content.
The police warned that delegate talks might be recorded and that Egyptian government supporters might try to sabotage activities the Germans were organising “via aggressive actions.”
Three German NGOs and business representatives who attended the COP27 reported other attendees and delegations had verbally warned them about potential surveillance.
A German foreign ministry spokesman said he expects participants “be able to work and negotiate under secure conditions.” “To this end, we are in continuous exchange with the Egyptian side,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
On Tuesday, according to Scholz, he brought up the problem of hunger striker Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a well-known activist and blogger who was convicted of distributing false information and given a five-year prison sentence, with the COP27 hosts.
“A decision needs to be taken, a release has to be made possible, so that it doesn’t come to it that the hunger striker dies,” Scholz told reporters.
The Egyptian government declared that Abd el-Fattah would receive medical attention from the prison staff.
