Egypt Convicts Mada Masr Editor, Orders Closure
Cairo – Security officers physically removed prominent Egyptian journalist Lina Attalah from a courtroom on Tuesday following her conviction for operating an unlicensed website and an order to permanently close the independent news outlet Mada Masr. The ruling by the ninth circuit of the New Cairo Misdemeanour Court represents the most severe penalty imposed in six years of legal proceedings against the publication, which remains one of the few independent voices still functioning under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s administration. Judge Mohamed Mubarak presided over the case, imposing a fine of 3m Egyptian pounds, approximately $53,500, alongside the confiscation of the outlet’s property and the immediate closure of its digital platform.
Hossam Bahgat, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, who attended the hearing, described the procedural conduct as highly irregular. He stated that after deliberations, the judge cleared the courtroom of all attendees except Attalah and her legal team. Plainclothes officers and guards subsequently filled the room, with a representative from the National Security Agency present. Bahgat noted that the judge rejected all procedural requests from the defense, including the submission of documents and the hearing of witnesses. When the defense refused to enter a plea while these requests remained unanswered, the judge appointed a lawyer unknown to the defense team to represent Attalah. This move astonished those present, according to Bahgat. Attalah’s eight existing lawyers objected to this appointment, and Attalah herself declared she did not accept the representation. The judge refused to record her objection in the official minutes. In what Bahgat termed an even more shocking development, the judge began writing down requests attributed to the court-appointed lawyer, who had not spoken, before reading out the verdict over shouts from the defense.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the detention and closure as a direct attack on free speech. Sara Qudah, CPJ regional director, stated that the conviction of Attalah and the shutdown of Mada Masr deal a devastating blow to press freedom in Egypt. She emphasized that Attalah and Mada Masr are among the most prominent voices providing critical reporting on public interest issues. Qudah warned that if Egypt can imprison such a respected editor and shut down her newsroom, no independent journalist in the country is safe. She called for Attalah’s immediate release and the restoration of Mada Masr’s ability to report.
Attalah was referred for trial on 22 October in Case No. 9072/2026, following more than six hours of questioning. Prosecutors initially questioned her regarding publishing false news, specifically concerning a Mada Masr report on protests at prisons across the country, but this accusation was dropped from the charge sheet. She had been released on bail of LE100,000, approximately $1,053. Founded by Attalah in 2013, Mada Masr has been blocked inside Egypt since May 2017. The outlet applied for a license multiple times since 2018, when a new media law was passed, but only learned in 2022 that the regulator had rejected their application in 2022, during Attalah’s questioning in another case.
Khaled al-Balshy, head of the Journalists' Syndicate, argued that the proper recourse should have been a challenge before administrative courts rather than criminal prosecution. This case marks the sixth legal action brought against Mada Masr, its journalists, and editors in six years. Previous incidents include questioning in August 2025 over alleged abuses at Badr 3 prison, a 2022 trial for offending pro-government lawmakers, and a security raid on the Cairo office in November 2019. The verdict comes less than a month after the arrest of six journalists from Matsadaash on 28 and 29 September. Prior to the ruling, 119 rights organizations and media institutions condemned the actions as an unprecedented attack on press freedom. Human Rights Watch raised concerns about licensing requirements being used to restrict independent media. Egypt ranks 169th of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2026 index, remaining one of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists despite some high-profile releases.
This report was produced in the Europe Brief News newsroom.
