An Egyptian court on Tuesday ordered the closure of one of Egypt’s last independent media outlets after convicting its editor-in-chief for operating an unlicensed website, the AP reports, in a major blow to press freedom in the country. The Mada Masr publication said its editor-in-chief and founder, Lina Attalah, was released after paying a fine equivalent to around $53,400. She was detained for seven hours after the verdict, with her whereabouts unknown during that time, according to the media outlet.
Mada Masr is one of the few news outlets in Egypt, known for its investigations into corruption, the growing role of the country’s powerful army and human rights violations. Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Human Rights Watch called the prosecution of Attalah an escalation of a “scandalous attack on independent media.” Attalah’s lead lawyer, Hassan el-Azhary, said Mada Masr plans to appeal. By imposing a heavy fine, ordering the closure of Mada Masr and the seizure of its assets, while “detaining Lina Attalah until payment is made, the Egyptian authorities are sending a clear and unforgiving message: critical and independent reporting will not be tolerated,” Amnesty International said in a statement.
While completing release formalities, Attalah’s defense team learned that the 44-year-old journalist had been sentenced in absentia in 2024 to a year in prison for spreading false news and operating an unlicensed website – a conviction she intends to appeal. An appeal hearing is scheduled for November 11. At Tuesday’s hearing in a Cairo criminal court – the first in a trial announced last week – the judge rejected all procedural requests from the defense and ordered his lawyers to present their closing arguments immediately. Khaled Elbalshy, president of the Egyptian Journalists’ Union, said the press union supported Attalah’s case, calling it a “wake-up call” that “goes against demands” to remove restrictions on the press.
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