Court orders Egyptian website closed in case seen as test for independent media

An Egyptian court convicted the editor-in-chief of leading independent news website Mada Masr of running it without a licence on Tuesday, ordered the site closed and held her in custody for five ‌hours, her lawyers and the outlet said.

Lina Attalah of the online newspaper Mada Masr, which has won numerous international awards for its reporting, was fined 3 million Egyptian pounds ($53,400), her lawyers told Reuters. She was released after Mada Masr paid the fine, the newspaper said. The ruling targets the most internationally prominent independent outlet in a media landscape mostly dominated by the state, and it comes ‌a month after authorities arrested the entire newsroom of the fact-checking outlet Matsaddash. Rights groups have criticized the case against Attalah. Mada Masr, which was founded in 2013, regularly publishes ‌stories on politically sensitive topics.

Her lawyers said the court rejected their requests during Tuesday's session to review the case file and submit additional evidence and instead issued her a court-appointed lawyer despite her objection. State authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The court gave her the maximum penalty, ordering the website to be shut down and its equipment confiscated, Mada Masr said in a statement.

The independent outlet said in a separate statement that during ⁠release procedures, ​Attalah was informed of a one-year prison term handed ⁠to her in absentia in 2024 on charges of disseminating false news and managing an unlicensed website. It said a retrial of the separate case was set for November 11 after her lawyers took steps to challenge ⁠the 2024 ruling. Prosecutors referred Attalah to trial last Thursday.

A group of 119 rights groups and media outlets, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists, called the case an "unprecedented attack ​on press freedom." US Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, said in a statement on the social media platform X on Friday that the charges were baseless and ⁠that "journalism is not a crime."

Egyptian authorities say the state is committed to upholding freedom of expression but that the media must operate within the law, respect national security and counter misinformation. YEARS OF LEGAL BATTLES

Egyptian authorities have blocked Mada ⁠Masr ​inside the country since 2017. Mada Masr says six cases have been brought against it and its journalists over the last six years, though rights groups say this is the first of its kind to be referred to trial. Attalah was named one of the world's 100 most influential people by Time magazine in 2020.

Mada Masr says it has asked for a ⁠licence from the Supreme Council for Media Regulation repeatedly since 2018 but heard nothing back and learned of a rejection only when prosecutors raised the issue during an earlier case in ⁠2022. The outlet contested that decision in court ⁠and said its latest application has been awaiting a response since 2023.

The council has not commented on the case but has said that it facilitates procedures for outlets that meet official requirements and is keen to promote freedom of expression. In September, the US waived rights ‌conditions, which include protecting media freedoms, ‌on a portion of the roughly $1.3 billion of military aid it sends Egypt each year.

(Editing ​by Alexander Dziadosz, Aidan Lewis and Matthew Lewis)