We, the undersigned organizations, condemn in the strongest terms the conviction of Lina Attalah, editor-in-chief of the independent Egyptian news outlet Mada Masr, and the court’s order to shut down one of the country’s leading and last remaining independent newsrooms. This is the latest episode in a new and escalating crackdown on Egypt’s independent media. We call on the Egyptian authorities to allow Mada Masr to operate freely.
This unprecedented attack on independent media began in late September with the arrest of six journalists from the investigative and fact-checking platform Matsadaash, some of whom told prosecutors they were tortured and forced to record fabricated “confessions.” The campaign has since widened: Journalist Rasha Azab was summoned for questioning, and the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate has been targeted by a coordinated defamation campaign.
In the latest incident, the New Cairo Misdemeanor Court convicted Attalah of managing an unlicensed website and imposed the maximum penalty: a fine of 3 million Egyptian pounds (about US$54,000), the closure of Mada Masr’s website and the confiscation of its devices and equipment. Attalah was taken into custody inside the courthouse immediately after the ruling and released after 7 hours.
During the release procedures, Attalah was surprised to discover an in absentia conviction issued against her in 2024—sentencing her to one year in prison on charges of disseminating false news and operating a website without a license. Her defense team has filed an objection to the in absentia judgment, and a hearing has been scheduled for November 11 to review the case.
Attalah’s trial was marked by serious violations of her right to a fair trial. According to reports from the hearing, journalists were excluded from the courtroom during critical stages of the proceedings, and the defense was prevented from being granted adequate time to review the case file and from presenting key procedural requests, including requests to submit documents and hear witnesses.
The reports also describe how the court appointed a lawyer for Lina despite her objections and the presence of her eight-member legal team, and proceeded to announce its verdict regardless.
Mada Masr’s legal team plans to appeal the ruling and pursue all available legal avenues to overturn it.
Attalah was interrogated and referred to trial shortly after Mada Masr joined other Egyptian and regional outlets in standing up a solidarity flash newsroom to fill the gap in coverage following the arrest of the six Matsadaash journalists.
The expanding arrest, closure and defamation campaign against independent media sends a clear message of fear and intimidation to newsrooms across the country.
We call on the Egyptian authorities to:
- Grant licenses to independent outlets without discrimination and allow them to operate freely, and end the use of licensing provisions under the media law to criminalize journalism.
- End the campaign of intimidation against journalists, independent media and the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate.
- Release the 25 journalists currently held in Egyptian custody immediately and unconditionally.
Signatories:
- 7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media
- Access Now
- Agência Mural
- Al Manassa
- Al Qatiba
- Alhudood
- American Committee for Middle East Rights (ACMER)
- Amnesty International
- Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies (AITAS)
- Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association (AMEJA)
- Arab foundation for civil society and human rights
- Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ)
- ARTICLE 19
- Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE).
- Assafir Al-Arabi
- Athr
- AVAAZ
- AWID
- Babelmed
- Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN
- Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC)
- Cartoonists Rights
- Cedar Centre for Legal Studies
- Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI)
- Center for International Policy (CIP) Washington
- Center for Media Research – Nepal
- Centre for Law and Democracy
- Coalition For Women in Journalism (CFWIJ)
- Committee for Justice (CFJ)
- Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
- Daraj Media
- Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
- Digital Action
- Digital Rights Foundation
- Drop Site News
- DW Akademie
- Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
- Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF)
- Egyptian Front for Human Rights
- Egyptian Human Rights Forum (EHRF)
- EgyptWide for Human Rights
- En toutes lettres
- English PEN
- EuroMed Rights Network
- FactcheckAr
- Factjaja
- FactWatch, Bangladesh
- FairSquare
- Fareq Platform for Fact-Checking
- Febrayer Network
- Fondation Hirondelle
- Gherbal Initiative
- Global Center for Journalism and Trauma
- Global Investigative Journalism Network (GIJN)
- Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD)
- Global Voices
- Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)
- Hounna Feminist Platform
- HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
- Human Rights Watch
- Huquqyat
- Informed
- Inkyfada
- International Fact-Checking Network
- International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
- International Federation of Journalists (FIJ)
- International Journalism Festival
- International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
- International Press Institute (IPI)
- Internews Kosova KALLXO
- Intersection Association For Rights and Freedoms (IARF)
- Jadaliyya
- Journalisme & Citoyenneté / Sahafa Med
- Jummar
- Khateera
- Khatt 30
- Law and Democracy Support Foundation (LDSF)
- Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH)
- Lokman Slim Foundation
- Maghreb Emergent
- MARE. Collectif
- Media Diversity Institute
- Media Resources Development Initiative (MRDI)
- Jabal Amel Report
- Meedan
- MENA Prison Forum
- MENA Rights Group
- Middle East Matters (MEM)
- Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP)
- Mnemonic
- Najda for Human Rights
- Nawaat
- New Narratives
- Nouvelles Rencontres d’Averroès (Marseille)
- Overseas Press Club of America (OPC)
- Orient XXI
- Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA)
- PEN America
- PEN Canada
- PEN International
- Public Media Alliance (PMA)
- Press Club Belarus
- Rachma Media
- REDWORD for Human Rights & Freedom of Expression
- Raseef22
- Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
- RESURJ l Global south-led transnational feminist alliance
- Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center
- Rory Peck Trust
- Rozana Media
- Rural Media Network Pakistan
- Rusted Radishes: Beirut Literary and Art Journal
- Samir Kassir Foundation
- Share3 Media (Syria)
- Sinai Foundation for Human Rights
- SMEX
- Start Point
- Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)
- Syrians for Truth and Justice – STJ
- TAFNIED
- The Alternative Policy Institute (BADIL)
- The Funambulist
- The New Humanitarian
- The Key Magazine
- The Legal Agenda
- The Markaz Review
- The Public Source
- The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in South West Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA)
- The Syria Campaign
- The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)
- UMAM Documentation & Research
- Union of Journalists in Lebanon
- Verify
- Vita-Activa.Org
- Wasl Rights
- Women for Justice Foundation (WJF)
- Women Journalist Alliance
- World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
- Zawia3
