Egyptian journalist Lina Attalah is due in criminal court Wednesday for a retrial tied to a one-year sentence issued in absentia in 2024, drawing renewed scrutiny of press freedom.
France 24 reported that the 2024 sentence concerned charges of operating a news website without a license and publishing false news. Attalah learned of the ruling last month, after leaving detention in another case, the outlet said. In that separate misdemeanor case, a court imposed a 3 million Egyptian-pound fine (about $56,000) and ordered Mada Masr shut, France 24 reported.
Attalah told AFP that Mada Masr had spent eight years seeking a license while its applications went unanswered for years. She said the outlet did not oppose regulation but called licensing “a tool of control, a tool of exclusion.” Mada Masr has said it sought approval in 2018 and challenged the rejection of its application, as EconoTimes' earlier coverage of the case noted.
A U.N. statement Tuesday pointed to legal action and harassment affecting independent journalists in Egypt. Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Attalah's prosecution put due-process safeguards and the prospect of a fair trial in question.
Sara Qudah, regional director for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), called on Egyptian authorities to restore Mada Masr's ability to publish. She also asked the European Union to raise the issue during political talks with Egypt.
The U.N. human rights office urged the release of six journalists arrested at fact-checking platform Matsadaash in September. Their pretrial detention has been extended several times, and the office said they had reportedly faced torture and were forced to record fabricated confessions.
France 24 described Mada Masr as one of Egypt's leading independent news outlets and said it had persisted through a press crackdown lasting more than a decade. The outlet also reported that authorities have closed nearly all space for dissent over the past decade.
Attalah is due back in criminal court Wednesday for the retrial.
