The first story: The gold that ceased to be gold.
Location: Kenneth Kaunda International Airport, Zambia
Date: Sunday, August 13, 2023
Our first story begins when Egyptian media outlets initially reported the detention of an Egyptian plane in Zambia. However, the news was later retracted by newspapers and websites, sparking controversy that didn’t subside, even after Nason Banda, Director General of the Zambian Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), held a press conference on Tuesday, August 15th. He revealed that a plane transporting hazardous cargo had landed at Kenneth Kaunda Airport on August 13th at 7:00 PM local time.
According to Nason, “The plane was en route from Cairo to Zambia, identified by the registration number Global Express T7-WW, and its intended destination was Egypt.” He further elaborated that the authorities took action due to “evidence of its involvement in unlawful activities. Acting on information received by the committee and in coordination with other law enforcement agencies, the plane was raided on August 14th at the airport.” Following the raid operation, the following items were seized:
• A sum of 5.7 million dollars.
• Five handguns along with their ammunition.
• 602 metallic pieces shaped like gold alloys, with a collective weight of 127 kilograms. (1)
These alloys initially posed a mystery, as they were first thought to be made of gold. However, it was later clarified, based on statements from Paul Kabuswethe, Zambian Minister of Mines and Minerals Development MMMD, that they were actually composed of zinc and copper. (2) The reason for the presence of such a large quantity of counterfeit gold alloys on the plane has not been disclosed to date. This has led some to speculate that there may have been an impending scam, while rumors suggest that several Zambian police officers who entered the plane for inspection may have received up to $200,000 each from the Egyptian passengers aboard the plane. It is alleged that these were their rewards for allowing the plane to take off without arresting anyone. However, when news spread in one way or another indicating that large sums of money were distributed on board the plane, another group of security personnel attacked the plane and arrested those who were inside.
The Zambian authorities have reported the arrest and “espionage” charges against 11 suspects, including a high-ranking Zambian police officer, along with six Egyptian, Dutch, Spanish, and Latvian citizens, for their unauthorized entry into a restricted airport area. (3)
A second point of ambiguity was the identity of the suspects since Egyptian authorities detained Karim Asaad, who works for an investigative journalism platform called ” Matsaddaqsh /Don’t believe”. The platform had revealed the names of four of the six Egyptians who were on board the plane, including a former army officer, a gold company owner, and a former Egyptian police officer. This was a clear indication of the Egyptian authorities’ attempt to conceal the incident and keep its details hidden from the public.
This coincided with the Egyptian authorities’ official silence on the incident, opting instead for contradictory statements made by an unidentified official to the state-affiliated Middle East News Agency. This official’s statements aimed to absolve Egypt of responsibility for the plane by asserting that it was a Lebanese, not Egyptian, plane that had transited through Cairo Airport and undergone thorough professional inspection, as he claimed. While pictures circulated on social media showing the same plane with high-ranking Egyptian officials on various occasions, numerous rumors emerged about its connection and the affiliation of its detained passengers with Egyptian security authorities.
The peak of ambiguity was reached when only five of the detained Egyptians were summoned for trial on espionage charges, leaving the sixth accused absent and their identity undisclosed. Critics in Egypt suggested that this missing individual could be a high-ranking security official, implying that Egyptian authorities had gone to great lengths to conceal their identity. Supporters, however, speculated that it could be a flight attendant who had not faced any charges.
Nevertheless, the Zambian court eventually decided to release the Egyptians after the prosecution dropped the charges against them, following an enigmatic intervention by the former Saudi Ambassador to Egypt, Ahmed Al-Qattan. They returned to Egypt, and the Egyptian authorities did not announce the initiation of any investigation of any kind into the matter. This appears to be an effort to conceal the incident’s details and sweep it under the rug.
The second story: Egyptian Gold in America.
Location: Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, New York
Event: Press conference by the federal prosecution to present charges against the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Our second narrative unfolds shortly following the closure of our initial story, within just a few weeks. This development took place on Friday, September 22nd, when the U.S. Department of Justice disclosed its charges (4) against Bob Menendez, a Democratic Senator from New Jersey and the Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and his spouse, Nadine Arslanian Menendez. They were accused of engaging in corruption and bribery in exchange for offering illicit services to Egyptian authorities. This legal action also implicated three additional businessmen, including Egyptian-American entrepreneur Wael Hanna.
Prosecutors claim that the senator utilized his influence to aid the Hanna Company, “IS EG,” in obtaining Halal food certifications. This emerging firm based in New Jersey secured a virtual monopoly on issuing Halal certificates for American meat exports to Egypt, displacing at least four other companies previously authorized by the Egyptian government to operate in the same domain. This situation raised concerns at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, particularly given the new company’s lack of established expertise in Halal certification. Its monopoly on such certifications subsequently led to increased expenses for other American meat suppliers and, as a result, elevated meat prices for imports in Egypt.
As per the prosecution’s claims, the senator engaged in “inappropriate counseling and undue pressure” on a senior official within the Department of Agriculture. This pressure was applied to convince the official to halt their intervention in “IS EG’s” monopoly of Halal food certifications (5). Prosecutors argue that this action was detrimental to the United States’ interests. Prosecutors also alleged that Hanna utilized his company as a means to offer substantial bribes, amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars, to both the senator and his wife. In return, they claim that Senator Menendez undertook actions and breached his duties in favor of the Sisi government and others, encompassing matters related to foreign military sales and foreign military financing. The prosecution pointed out that Menendez disclosed classified information regarding military aid status to Hanna during a public meeting in 2018. The indictment further noted that Hanna sent a text message to a high-ranking Egyptian official, stating that “the ban on small arms and ammunition to Egypt has been lifted.”
The charges were brought forth following an inspection in the summer of 2022 of Menendez’s home, which unveiled $100,000 in gold bars and $480,000 in cash. Furthermore, a Mercedes-Benz car valued at $60,000 was gifted to his wife as a part of the scheme. (6)
Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, stated during his press conference when announcing the charges, “This investigation is ongoing, we are not finished yet. I want to encourage anyone with information to come forward to us quickly.” Meanwhile, the Egyptian Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the allegations.
Our second story has ended.
The common thread between the two stories, undoubtedly, is the allegation of involvement by the Egyptian government and its security agencies in both cases, along with the substantial amounts of money seized and the gold bars that are poised to become a symbolic representation of Egypt’s future relations with the world. The contrast between these stories is evident when we compare the meticulousness of the U.S. authorities in their accusations and their transparent disclosure, despite implicating a high-ranking figure in the legislative branch. In contrast, the Zambian authorities’ position seemed somewhat influenced by Egyptian pressures, and the official Egyptian response appeared unusually subdued, limited to an unofficial media campaign promoting the events in the United States as an Egyptian intelligence operation aimed at recruiting Senator Menendez for the Egyptian government’s interests.
In this context, the relationship between the right to access information, the depth of transparency, and the rule of law in each country becomes apparent. In a nation like the United States, renowned for its strong legal traditions and the stringent separation of governmental powers, the investigation extended over several years and was openly disclosed to the public, despite the inevitable impact it would have on political dynamics and the equilibrium of power within the Senate. Conversely, in Zambia, a nation that has recently undergone a democratic transformation, doubts emerged regarding the extent of interference from the executive branch, represented by the President and government ministers, in the progression of the investigations and their potential influence on the judicial process. Furthermore, suspicions arose that influential officials may have seized the gold and substituted it with copper bars in exchange for facilitating the departure of individuals implicated in the case.
What’s the situation in Egypt?
In the first case, the restrictions on Egyptian newspapers from reporting on the Zambian plane incident, the subsequent arrest of a “Matsaddaqsh” journalist for covering the news, and the use of unidentified sources for statements related to the plane that were published in the official news agency, all highlight the limited regard the Egyptian government has for the public’s right to access information, which is close to negligible.
In contrast, the media campaign that tried to portray the bribery incident involving the American senator as a significant Egyptian intelligence operation reveals an unprecedented lack of consideration for the public’s right to information and the oversight of governmental institutions. It also reflects a tendency to view Egyptian citizens as subjects of deception and information concealment.
Despite the acknowledgment of the significance of the right to information in Egypt’s constitution, as outlined in Article (68), which asserts that “information, data, statistics, and official documents belong to the people, and the state guarantees every citizen the right to access them from various sources. The state is obliged to provide and make them accessible to citizens transparently. The law governs the conditions for obtaining, disclosing, maintaining confidentiality, depositing, preserving, and appealing against refusal to provide them. It also stipulates penalties for withholding information or intentionally furnishing false information.“
Furthermore, in a more specific context, this principle is reiterated in one of the rulings of the Administrative Judiciary Court (7), which states:
- “The right to knowledge is not merely an established right for the sake of knowledge itself, but it is intricately linked to another right, which is the right to the flow and exchange of information.”
- “Considering that the freedom to exchange information necessitates the right to access information, and communicate it to others, regardless of borders, through various means of expression, media, or any other channels for conveying and sharing opinions, including telecommunications and internet services, the inability to obtain information and possess the right to disseminate it for public awareness would render freedom of opinion meaningless in society.”
- “The state’s obligation to widely publish vital information pertaining to the public interest, aiming to ensure transparency, oversee the functioning of public authorities, and address legitimate public desires for societal improvement.”
- “The right to access and disseminate information has a twofold nature. Firstly, it places a (negative) responsibility on the administrative authority to refrain from enacting any legislative or administrative measures that obstruct the free flow of news and information, whether within the country or from abroad. Thus, the state is prohibited from erecting barriers to information flow or permitting information monopolies and suppressing its dissemination, except when necessary to maintain public order.”
How much longer will the Egyptian state continue to flout its own constitution and the court rulings that clearly affirm the right to freely exchange information?