At least 119 civil society organisations and media outlets issued a statement on Friday calling on Egypt to urgently release the editor-in-chief of Mada Masr and shedding light on what they describe as an unprecedented attack on press freedom in the country.
“Lina Attalah’s referral to trial constitutes an unprecedented escalation that threatens the future of the entire independent media, knowledge production, and civil society space in Egypt,” the statement reads.
It is signed by various organisations and rights groups, including Access Now, Al Manasa, Arab Reform Initiative, Daraj Media, Drop Site News, Egyptian Front for Human Rights, among others.
The move follows the editor-in-chief, Lina Attalah, being summoned to appear for questioning before the Supreme State Security Prosecution earlier this week.
The targeting of Attalah took place in the wake of Mada Masr and seven other independent organisations from around the Middle East setting up a flash investigations newsroom to fill the gap left by the Matsadaash newsroom after they were detained.
Attalah was interrogated for six hours on 21 October and was questioned about Mada Masr’s coverage following the arrest of the Matsadaash newsroom.
She was also questioned about the legal status of Mada Masr’s licence, before facing charges of running an outlet without a licence and publishing fake news with the aim of disrupting public peace.
On Thursday, she was informed that she would be referred to trial on charges of establishing, managing, and operating a website without a licence, with the first session set to begin on 27 October.
The civil society organisations and media outlets have raised serious alarm over the charges, noting that Mada Masr has previously made every effort to register for a licence and operate lawfully in accordance with the country’s laws.
In 2018, Mada Masr applied for a license but received no response, and applied again in 2020 with the same result.
During an interrogation in 2022, Mada Masr found out that their licensing application had been rejected without them receiving proper notice or disclosure. Despite filing a lawsuit that same year, their latest application for a licence has been pending since 2023.
The joint statement from the rights group states that for the charges against Attalah, there could be a potential penalty of between LE 1 million ($18,000) and 3 million ( $54,000), subject to a doubling of the fine for recurrence.
The statement also says that one of the biggest concerns is that the court could also order for Mada Masr to be closed, adding that this would be a major hit to one of the remaining independent media outlets in the country.
“For years, Egyptian authorities have leveraged their repressive and restrictive tactics against independent media outlets to harass journalists, restrict their operations, and chill freedom of expression,” the statement says.
“To escalate to the step of referral to trial must be read as a clear intent to entirely shutter the independent media space and to permanently close what remains,” it continued.
This marks the sixth case brought against Mada Masr in the space of six years.
The outlets and rights groups have demanded that Egyptian authorities immediately drop the prosecution of Attalah and grant Mada Masr a licence to operate.
It issued a stark warning that if such repression continued, the consequences could be much worse for civil society and the press.
