Egyptian court orders closure of news website and fines editor-in-chief

An Egyptian court has ordered the closure of Mada Masr, a prominent independent news website, and imposed a fine of three million Egyptian pounds on its editor-in-chief, Lina Attalah. The New Cairo Misdemeanour Court also confiscated the outlet's equipment and property. Attalah was arrested following the ruling and released later after paying the fine.

Hossam Bahgat, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and a former Mada Masr editor, attended the trial. He expressed disappointment at the court's decision, noting that all defence requests were rejected and that the judge appointed a lawyer for Attalah, unknown to her eight-member defence team. The court announced the conviction amid protests from the defence counsel.

Mada Masr claims Attalah faces an additional one-year prison sentence in absentia from 2024 for spreading false news and operating an unlicensed website. Her lawyers are contesting this ruling, with a retrial scheduled for November 11. The case was brought under Egypt's 2018 media law, which allows fines of one million to three million pounds and website closure for unlicensed operation.

Attalah was interrogated for over six hours on October 21 regarding a recent report published by her outlet. She was released on bail of 100,000 Egyptian pounds the following day and subsequently charged with the licensing offence. Mada Masr was established in 2013 and blocked in Egypt since 2017. This marks the sixth case against the outlet or its journalists in the past six years. The outlet has applied for a license three times, most recently in 2023, with the latest application still pending.

Rights groups and media organizations worldwide had called for Mada Masr's licensing prior to the verdict. Amnesty International described the ruling as a "crushing blow to press freedom in Egypt."