A Cairo court has convicted Lina Attalah, editor of the independent news outlet Mada Masr, of operating a website without a license and ordered the site closed. Attalah was later released after Mada Masr paid a fine of 3 million Egyptian pounds (about $53,500).
According to her lawyer, Hassan al-Azhari, the journalist was briefly detained inside the courtroom itself. The proceedings also revealed that she had been sentenced in absentia in 2024 to one year in prison and a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds. Her legal team appealed that ruling, and a new hearing is scheduled for November 11.
Mada Masr said it paid the fine to secure Attalah's release. The case quickly drew condemnation from international human rights and press freedom organizations.
Attalah has been a familiar figure in Egyptian journalism since 2011 and founded Mada Masr in 2013. Over the years she has campaigned for press freedom and has been arrested on several occasions. Mada Masr said it applied for an operating license three years ago but received no response from the authorities.
The case comes shortly after the entire six-member team of the independent fact-checking platform Matsadaash was arrested and accused of belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood. Attalah's legal team said their client was effectively seized by surprise at the court, when a judge appointed a defense lawyer for her before security forces moved to arrest her inside the courtroom.
Hossam Bahgat, head of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), who was present at the hearing, said the move showed Egypt's security agencies were shifting from years of harassing independent media to wiping them out altogether. He said the escalation confirmed fears that the arrest of the Matsadaash journalists was the sign of an unprecedented crackdown threatening to erode the limited press freedom Egypt has retained over the past decade.
According to EIPR, the recent moves against independent media follow a rise since August in statements by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi alleging plots to destabilize the country. Sisi has said he wants to stay in office until 2030 to protect Egypt from those he calls traitors, criminals and saboteurs.
Reporters Without Borders called the court's decision excessive and shameful and urged the authorities to release Attalah immediately. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also condemned the ruling, while Amnesty International described it as a heavy blow to press freedom. According to CPJ, Egypt is among the countries holding the largest number of journalists in the world, with 25 currently imprisoned.
PEN International, together with dozens of civil society organizations, issued a statement of protest. The group said this was the sixth case brought against Mada Masr in six years, but the first time such a case had gone to trial. Observers say taking the case to court signals an intent to shut down entirely what remains of Egypt's independent media space.
