Organizations condemn Mada Masr shutdown, stand with editor-in-chief Lina Attalah

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:

1. 7amleh - The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media

2. Access Now

3. Al Manassa

4. Al Qatiba

5. Alhudood

6. American Committee for Middle East Rights (ACMER)

7. Amnesty International

8. Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-Violence Studies (AITAS)

9. Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association (AMEJA)

10. Arab foundation for civil society and human rights

11. Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ)

12. ARTICLE 19

13. Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE).

14. Assafir Al-Arabi 

15. Athr

16. AVAAZ

17. AWID

18. Babelmed

19. Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN

20. Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC)

21. Cartoonists Rights

22. Cedar Centre for Legal Studies

23. Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI)

24. Center for International Policy (CIP) Washington

25. Center for Media Research - Nepal

26. Centre for Law and Democracy

27. Committee for Justice (CFJ)

28. Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

29. Daraj Media

30. Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)

31. Digital Action

32. Digital Rights Foundation

33. Drop Site News

34. DW Akademie

35. Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF)

36. Egyptian Front for Human Rights

37. Egyptian Human Rights Forum (EHRF)

38. EgyptWide for Human Rights

39. En toutes lettres

40. English PEN

41. EuroMed Rights Network

42. FactcheckAr

43. Factjaja

44. FactWatch, Bangladesh

45. FairSquare

46. Febrayer Network

47. Fondation Hirondelle

48. Free Press Unlimited (FPU)

49. Gherbal Initiative

50. Global Center for Journalism and Trauma

51. Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD)

52. Global Voices

53. Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

54. Hounna Feminist Platform

55. HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement

56. Human Rights Watch

57. Huquqyat

58. Informed

59. Inkyfada

60. International Fact-Checking Network

61. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

62. International Federation of Journalists (FIJ)

63. International Journalism Festival

64. International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)

65. International Press Institute (IPI)

66. Internews Kosova KALLXO

67. Intersection Association For Rights and Freedoms (IARF)

68. Jadaliyya

69. Journalisme & Citoyenneté / Sahafa Med

70. Jummar

71. Khateera

72. Khatt 30

73. Law and Democracy Support Foundation (LDSF)

74. Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH)

75. Lokman Slim Foundation

76. Maghreb Emergent

77. MARE. Collectif

78. Media Diversity Institute 

79. Jabal Amel Report

80. Meedan

81. MENA Prison Forum

82. MENA Rights Group

83. Middle East Matters (MEM)

84. Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP)

85. Mnemonic

86. Najda for Human rights

87. Nawaat

88. New Narratives

89. Nouvelles Rencontres d’Averroès (Marseille)

90. Orient XXI

91. Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA)

92. PEN America

93. PEN International 

94. Press Club Belarus

95. Rachma Media

96. REDWORD for Human Rights & Freedom of Expression

97. Raseef22

98. Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

99. RESURJ l Global south-led transnational feminist alliance

100. Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center

101. Rory Peck Trust

102. Rozana Media

103. Rural Media Network Pakistan

104. Rusted Radishes

105. Samir Kassir Foundation

106. Share3 Media (Syria)

107. Sinai Foundation for Human Rights

108. SMEX

109. Start Point

110. Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)

111. Syrians for Truth and Justice - STJ

112. TAFNIED

113. The Alternative Policy Institute (BADIL)

114. The Funambulist

115. The New Humanitarian

116. The Key Magazine

117. The Legal Agenda

118. The Markaz Review

119. The Public Source

120. The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in South West Asia and North Africa (WHRDMENA)

121. The Syria Campaign

122. The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)

123. UMAM Documentation & Research

124. Union of Journalists in Lebanon

125. Verify

126. Vita-Activa.Org

127. Wasl Rights

128. Women for Justice Foundation (WJF)

129. Women Journalist Alliance

130. World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

131. Zawia3