Macron Under Fire For Suppressing Footage Of Red-Carpet Treatment For Dictator Sisi

Controversy over France’s military arms sales to Egypt kicked off this week after President Emmanuel Macron said he’ll pursue future sales of French arms to Gen. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi regardless of widespread human rights abuses.

“I will not condition matters of defense and economic cooperation on these disagreements (over human rights),” Macron said Monday after the two held talks in the Elysee Palace. “It is more effective to have a policy of demanding dialogue than a boycott which would only reduce the effectiveness of one our partners in the fight against terrorism,” he added.

Things got awkward, however when during the joint presser Sisi referenced recent controversy over caricatures of Muhammad, stressing that “it’s very important that when we’re expressing our opinion, that we don’t, for the sake of human values, violate religious values.”

“The rank of religious values is much higher than human values… They are holy and above all other values,” he added.

Macron pushed back afterward: “We consider human values are superior to everything else. That’s what was brought by the philosophy of the Enlightment and the foundation of the universalism of human rights.” The French president further emphasized that this meant French secular values allowed for publishing or displaying what others would consider blasphemy.

Various humanitarian organizations lashed out at Macron’s explicitly saying he remains unconcerned by Sisi’s well documented history of harsh repression and even in some instances torture of political dissidents, as well as the jailing of journalists. France24 news reports:

Human rights clearly “comes second” to French President Emmanuel Macron when he invites his Egyptian counterpart to France for a state visit.

So says Human Rights Watch’s Katia Roux, hitting out at the French leader, despite Macron saying he spoke frankly and openly to Abdel Fattah al-Sisi about human rights during the visit. Roux says economic and strategic interests clearly come first, despite thousands of activists being jailed in Egypt amid a vast crackdown on civil society under Sisi’s leadership.

The controversy has continued this week after a French broadcaster has charged that the French presidency’s office is trying to hide footage of Macron rolling out the red carpet for Sisi, and laying out a lavish banquet and feast, also in which Macron awarded the Egyptian dictator the prestigious grands-croix de la Légion d’honneur medal.

Wow, Macron has actually tried to hide the fact that he awarded the highest French state medal to Egyptian dictator Sisi.

French broadcaster: “ we had to go to the website of an authoritarian regime to find out what is happening at the Elysee Palace.” pic.twitter.com/4sulRRAZRW

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) December 9, 2020

The award in question is actually somewhat customary for high dignitaries and heads of state to receive upon visiting the Elysee Palace.

In 2007, Sarkozy gave Libyan dictator Qaddafi the red carpet in Paris. Today, Macron awarded Egypt’s Sisi France’s highest honor.

All states deal with actors they may not like.

All states, however, do not lecture others on their moral superiority while feasting dictators… pic.twitter.com/lQiQkavBGI

— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) December 9, 2020

But Macron is still being blasted in European media and among human rights organizations for his two-faced hypocrisy given he often lectures other countries on maintaining a high human rights standard.

Turkey is especially angered over the whole spectacle and is calling it out given Macron and Erdogan have lately been in fierce disagreement on a range of issues from Armenia, to Libya to the issue of Turkish Mediterranean gas exploration and drilling.