Egyptian Court Orders Closure of Independent Outlet Mada Masr and Fines Editor

POLICY WIRE — Cairo, Egypt — An Egyptian court ordered the shutdown of Mada Masr, one of the nation’s final independent news organizations, on Tuesday following the conviction of its editor-in-chief for running a website without a license.

The publication reported that founder and editor-in-chief Lina Attalah was released after settling a fine of roughly $53,400. Mada Masr stated she had been detained for seven hours following the verdict, during which time her location remained unknown.

Mada Masr stands among the few domestic outlets focusing on corruption investigations, the expanding influence of the military, and human rights issues in a media landscape tightly monitored by state authorities. Prior to the Tuesday hearing, Human Rights Watch characterized the prosecution of Attalah as an escalation of an outrageous attack on independent media.

Hassan el-Azhary, the lead attorney for Attalah, stated that the media organization intends to appeal the closure mandate.

Amnesty International released a statement calling the ruling a crushing blow to press freedom in Egypt and a dark day for independent journalism. The organization added that imposing a hefty fine, ordering the closure alongside property seizure, and detaining Attalah until payment demonstrates a clear message that critical reporting will not be tolerated.

While finalizing her release paperwork, defense attorneys discovered that the 44-year-old journalist had also been sentenced in absentia in 2024 to a one-year prison term on allegations of disseminating false news and operating an unlicensed website. Mada Masr indicated on its Facebook page that this conviction will also be appealed, with a hearing scheduled for Nov. 11.

During the session at a Cairo misdemeanor court, which marked the first appearance in a trial announced the prior week, the judge dismissed all procedural requests from the defense and ordered lawyers to immediately deliver closing arguments. Hossam Bahgat, head of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights who was present in the courtroom, detailed the proceedings.

When the eight defense lawyers declined, the judge introduced an unfamiliar, court-appointed lawyer despite loud protests from both the legal team and Attalah. Bahgat noted that the judge refused to log her rejection of the attorney into the official record.

State security prosecutors had previously summoned Attalah last week regarding allegations of publishing false news and operating without a license, subsequently referring her to trial solely on the licensing charge.

Mada Masr noted that it initially submitted an application for an official license in 2018 but never received a response. State authorities have maintained a block on the outlet’s website within Egypt since 2017, marking this as the sixth legal case filed against the publication or its staff over a six-year span.

In response, Amnesty International alongside 118 international civil society groups and independent media organizations urged Egyptian authorities to halt their targeting of Mada Masr and issue the requested license.

Khaled Elbalshy, head of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate, expressed support for Attalah on Facebook, describing the situation as a wake-up call that contradicts official demands for easing press restrictions and implementing media reform.

This legal action coincides with a broader campaign against independent media across the country. Egyptian prosecutors extended the pre-trial detention of six journalists from the Matsadaash investigative platform by an additional 15 days on Tuesday, according to a statement published on the platform’s Facebook page.

The statement emphasized that the detention was prolonged without any new interrogations, requests for responses to accusations, or presentation of evidence supporting the allegations. Matsadaash reporters were originally arrested in late September on accusations of joining and financing a terrorist group alongside spreading false information.

Egypt currently holds the 169th position out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders.

Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)