The French Diplomat Who Escaped the Fate of “Regeni” … A Chapter in the History of Repression in Egypt

André Michel

André Michel’s Le repas du soir, published by the National Translation Centre and translated by Rasha Saleh, takes on particular significance when compared with what happened to the French diplomat André Michel and the Italian student Giulio Regeni. The book, set between the autumn of 1961 and the spring of 1962, recounts a nightmarish experience endured by the French diplomat in the State Security services and the appeals prison in Egypt.

André Michel’s arrival in Egypt came at a time when cultural relations between Egypt and France were being restored after having been interrupted by the 1956 Tripartite Aggression. He began his mission in Cairo with optimism and enthusiasm, seeking to strengthen cultural ties between the French and Egyptian peoples through development projects focused on education and Egyptian antiquities. André, who had studied Arabic before coming to Egypt, began his activities with sightseeing and attempts to integrate with the Egyptian people, whom he describes as cunning and genuinely in love with life. He visited the Pyramids and Lake Mariout. After two months in Cairo, however, the shock came.

A group of men in civilian clothes and military uniforms suddenly seized him, pushed him against a wall, blindfolded him, and handcuffed his hands behind his back. When André said that he spoke Modern Standard Arabic but not the Egyptian dialect, he was slapped. During the search, they looked for secret documents and invisible ink. When he used a dialect word, he was violently slapped, thrown to the ground, and accused of lying. After mocking his diplomatic passport, they took him to prison.

Torture in Light Khaki

After making numerous turns in the car to disorient him, André arrived at his destination and briefly dozed off. A young man in a light-khaki uniform woke him and ordered him to give a military salute whenever he entered the room, while André remained blindfolded. Another man joined the interrogation, demanding the truth through slaps and insults such as “liar” and “French pig.”

They questioned him about his activities in Cairo, looking for secrets behind his answers. When André denied their accusations, the slapping and pushing continued amid the investigators’ laughter. Michel screamed, convincing himself that he was trapped in a nightmare from which he would eventually wake.

The investigators threatened him with imprisonment and hanging if he did not cooperate and confess. They even threatened to use his wedding ring to lure his wife and harass her. In exchange, they offered him a position in Egyptian intelligence or at an Egyptian embassy. They threatened to torture him as France had tortured Algerians, accusing him of being Jewish and an officer of the French Deuxième Bureau. Amid slaps, kicks, and threats, the agents eventually left him, warning him that they would continue until he spoke.

The investigations, threats, and attempts to prove that Michel had a Jewish mother continued. His linguistic abilities were presented as evidence that he was a spy, while the investigators tried to trap him with recordings or supposed confessions from his colleagues. André was eventually transferred to prison, which he found preferable to the interrogation rooms. The prison, however, was not without a compassionate guard who sensed André’s distress, embraced him, urged him to endure, and brought him tea and an orange, giving him a glimmer of hope in the darkness.

On Wednesday, November 29, André discovered that another Frenchman, Henri Motte, was being held there. This reassured him that he was not alone and that the French mission had not abandoned him. He remained in prison and was subjected to repeated interrogations until the visit of the Swiss ambassador, as there was no French ambassador in Cairo. The ambassador brought him books, cigarettes, and clothes.

While reading an Egyptian newspaper, André saw a headline about an espionage conspiracy and accusations against four Frenchmen: attempting to overthrow the regime, assassinate the president, establish dealings with the opposition, and publish leaflets. The ambassador told him that no one in Europe believed the accusations, that the world was condemning them, and that Michel risked life imprisonment with hard labor or execution.

Michel engages in an internal dialogue about Egypt. Despite what happened to him, he does not hold anything against Egypt, its people, or its government—particularly the Egypt he had encountered before his imprisonment. He had believed in the achievements and sincerity of the regime. Nevertheless, he could not ignore what had happened to him or the fact that he had been imprisoned for his ideas.

The Trial

Although Michel feared the trial, it also represented an opportunity to see the outside world. As hearings were repeatedly postponed, he lived alongside other prisoners and witnessed the execution of one of them. This made him anxious, although he also noticed positive signs, such as a guard who said that he knew Michel and considered him a true friend of Egypt. The newspapers covered the proceedings objectively.

After four months, the prosecution requested an indefinite postponement in the interests of the state and called for his release. André Michel emerged from this nightmare after 135 days, wondering what remained of him. He was relieved that his body had not suffered irreversible damage. He had become an enemy of violence against human beings everywhere, committed to knowledge, a heir to European civilization, engaged in dialogue with the Arabic language, and eager to contribute to the development of developing nations.

André Michel’s experience in Egypt bears witness to an Egyptian hysteria that treated every foreigner as a potential spy, failing to distinguish between France, which was occupying Algeria, and a Frenchman who had come to work toward common development. Every foreigner was a spy; every spy was a Jew in disguise. This recalls the hysteria surrounding Giulio Regeni on January 25, 2016, when the Italian student was considered an Italian spy, tortured, and killed.

Egypt in 1961 and Egypt in 2016 suffered from a form of paranoia based on the assumption that major conspiracies were being orchestrated by foreigners disguised as ordinary people but secretly working for foreign intelligence services. These theories were fueled by the media and security apparatus and ultimately carried out through murder, fabricated accusations, and invented cases.

Through the eyes of foreigners who suffered from fabricated conspiracy theories—conspiracy theories that we ourselves had come to believe—we can grasp the gravity of this image of Egypt in the 1960s and again in 2016. We became hostile and suspicious toward everything coming from outside, victorious in imaginary battles that no one could see except us.