FBI arrests man who allegedly spied on Egyptian president's opponents

Egyptian-American Pierre Girgis is charged with acting as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the attorney general of the United States.

An Egyptian American has been charged with acting as an illegal agent of Egypt as he "tracked and obtained information regarding political opponents" of the Egyptian president, federal prosecutors in New York said.

It's the latest example of an autocratic leader extending their grip beyond their borders to quash political dissent -- a hand that in recent years has even extended into the U.S., according to some analysts.

Pierre Girgis, 39, "operated at the direction and control of multiple employees of the Egyptian government," according to the criminal complaint, as he spied on critics of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the Egyptian general who seized power in 2013.

Sisi has overseen a widespread crackdown on human rights in Egypt, which is among the least free countries in the world, according to the think tank Freedom House. Sisi's government has imprisoned tens of thousands of political prisoners, criminalized expressions of dissent and deployed security forces with impunity, according to human rights groups.