Per Björklund: I must have done something right

The Swedish journalist Per Björklund is now back home in Sweden.

- Spontaneously, I would say that if something like this happens in a country like Egypt, you have done something right.

When Per Bjorklund was going through the passport control, he was told that his name came up on the computer screen.

- They took me aside and said that it would take five minutes, but I had a feeling it would not.

He was taken to another building where he was interrogated by two members of the security service.

- They asked questions about what I was doing in Egypt and what I had done there earlier, then they said that I should wait five minutes and walked away and made phone calls.

When they came back they took his phone and took him to an office- and storage room with 24 beds.

- There were already a lot of Palestinians in the room. They explained that "from here you will not leave soon." Some of them had been there for months.

During the night came another 20 people which meant that they were 50 people who shared the 24 bed places.

What happened then?

- Nothing. I nagged to get any clearance or permission to contact the embassy, but there were just guards in there and they had no answers.

On Wednesday evening the staff of the Swedish Embassy came to the airport, and Per Bjorklund finally recieved an indication of when he would be sent back.

The Egyptian Embassy in Stockholm claims that you committed a crime in Egypt, have you been told what crime you are accused of?

- No, they have not accused me of anything, they just asked general questions.

Why were you deported, do you think?

- It is impossible to know. I do not even know who made the decision. There may be a combination of different things. I have occasionally had problems with the police in my job, I've been held by them some times when I monitored demonstrations.

Is it normal, what happened to you?

- I have heard of some cases, but it is very rare. Foreign journalists can write freely in Egypt, however, they can be physically stopped by police at demonstrations. For Egyptian journalists, the situation is different.

Per Bjorklund has lived in Egypt the last three years, but now is unsure whether he will be able to return.

- I will contact the Egyptian Embassy in Stockholm, he says.

(This article has been translated from Swedish with Google Translation)

Axel Andén

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