Lina Attalah, the editor-in-chief of the Egyptian news outlet Mada Masr, has been released from detention by Egyptian authorities after a fine was paid, while a court ordered her website to be shut down amid an intensifying crackdown on independent media in the country.
Attalah was briefly taken into custody after a Cairo court convicted her of managing an unlicensed website, prompting international concerns over press freedom in Egypt.
Release after fine payment
According to Mada Masr, Attalah was released after the outlet paid a fine of 3m Egyptian pounds ($53,500; £40,100). Her lawyer, Hassan al-Azhari, confirmed the payment and revealed that Attalah had been sentenced in absentia in 2024 to a year in prison and a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds. The defence team appealed that sentence, and a new court hearing was scheduled for 11 November.
Attalah founded Mada Masr in 2013, after coming to international prominence in 2011 during the Arab spring. An advocate for press freedom, she has been arrested on a number of occasions.
Context of the crackdown
Attalah's detention and the ordered closure of Mada Masr, which says it applied for a licence to operate three years ago and received no reply from Egyptian authorities, follows the arrest of the entire six-person team at the independent factchecking platform Matsadaash, who were charged with belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
Attalah's legal team suggested she had been effectively ambushed during a court appearance, with a judge appointing a defence lawyer for her before security personnel detained her in the courtroom.
Reactions and wider implications
Hossam Bahgat, head of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), who attended the court hearing, said the crackdown "can only mean that Egypt's security agencies are moving from years of harassing independent media to wiping them out completely". Bahgat added that the escalation "validates our fears that the arrest and continued detention of the six Matsadaash journalists would signal a crackdown of unprecedented magnitude".
According to EIPR, the recent moves follow an increasing frequency of statements from Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi since August claiming a conspiracy to destabilise the country. He has said he intended to remain in power until 2030 to protect Egypt from "traitors, criminals, and saboteurs".
Reporters Without Borders called the court's decision "outrageous" and "shameful", urging authorities to release Attalah "at once". The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also condemned the verdict, and Amnesty International said it represented "a crushing blow to press freedom". Egypt is among the top jailers of journalists globally, with 25 currently behind bars, according to the CPJ.
Pen International issued a statement with several dozen civil society organisations condemning the moves, noting that "though this is the sixth case brought against Mada Masr in six years, this is the first time that a case of this nature has been referred to trial". Attalah's lawyers took steps to challenge the ruling, with a retrial hearing scheduled for 11 November.
