Egypt’s independent press fights to survive as Mada Masr editor returns to court

An old villa, tucked away among ​mango and lemon trees in the back streets of Giza, once resounded with the ‌clatter ​of keyboards and the chatter of people around its two long meeting tables but has now fallen silent. Ordered by a court to close last month, Egypt's best-known independent news site, Mada Masr, has shuttered the villa as it awaits an appeal. Editor-in-chief Lina Attalah faces a separate case this week that could land her in prison.

Human rights groups see the Mada Masr ‌case, along with the recent arrest of the entire newsroom of fact-checking outlet Matsaddash, as a stark sign of a crackdown that is testing whether independent journalism can survive in Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country. Founded in 2013, Mada Masr has long stood out in a media landscape dominated by outlets owned by or aligned with the state. It has won international awards and produced coverage closely followed by diplomats, researchers and foreign correspondents.

While the site, blocked in Egypt since 2017, has faced investigations and fines before, this time ‌it is "in existential danger", Attalah told Reuters. Rights and civil society groups have condemned the prosecution, while the European Union said the "preservation and protection of independent media outlets are essential".

On Tuesday, the UN human rights office added its voice to calls for ‌Egyptian authorities to allow journalists "to carry out their essential work free from intimidation and reprisals". Egyptian authorities did not respond to Reuters requests for comment on the Mada Masr case or wider issues of press freedom. They have repeatedly said the state is committed to freedom of expression but that media must operate within the law and respect national security.

Egypt’s Supreme Judicial Council has rejected claims that Attalah's trial last month was unfair. Egypt’s foreign partners have also shown limited willingness to let rights concerns disrupt strategic ties.

In September, the United States, a key security partner, waived human rights conditions — which include protecting press freedoms — on part ⁠of the roughly $1.3 ​billion in annual military aid it provides to Egypt. LICENSING LIMBO

Attalah said ⁠she only learned of the order to shut her newsroom when signing papers for her release from detention after the payment of a fine of 3 million Egyptian pounds ($56,200). At the heart of Mada Masr’s case is its lack of a licence, which it says it has been seeking since a ⁠2018 media law introduced the requirement.

Under the licensing rules, Egypt’s Supreme Council for Media Regulation must rule on applications within 90 days. Mada Masr says its applications, most recently completed in 2023, have received no formal decision. Such a lack of response can leave independent outlets in limbo and at ​risk of prosecution for operating illegally, said Lobna Darwish, head of advocacy at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights.

The media council has not specifically commented on Mada Masr’s case, but said last week it had issued numerous licences, that ⁠unlicensed sites made up a small share, and that it stood ready to help outlets complete their files. Journalists say licensing issues can feed into broader pressures.

Shaher Ayyad, an editorial board member at independent site al-Manassa, said independent outlets are often portrayed as lawbreakers or enemies of the state. "We are neither a site hostile to ⁠the ​state nor one that supports it," he said.

Al-Manassa has been blocked more than a dozen times since 2017, leaving readers facing dead links, sources hesitant to talk and advertisers wary, Ayyad said. PRISON TERMS

Though Egypt’s 2014 constitution broadly forbids imposing jail terms for publication offences, the Committee to Protect Journalists says 25 journalists are currently behind bars. The most prominent recent example was the arrest in September of all six staff of fact-checking outlet Matsaddash on suspicion of spreading misinformation on behalf of the banned Muslim Brotherhood. ⁠The outlet denies the accusation.

The six — including the outlet's only employee who belongs to Egypt's trade union for journalists — remain in jail pending trial, authorities have said. The Egyptian government’s 2021 National Human Rights Strategy acknowledges some shortcomings in the media ⁠field, Darwish said, adding it lists among the challenges inadequate access to ⁠official information, insufficient diversity of opinion and a weak culture of freedom of expression.

Mada Masr editor Attalah returns to court on Wednesday for a retrial in a separate case in which she was previously sentenced in absentia to a year in prison for publishing false news and running an unlicensed website. Attalah said she wishes to remain in Egypt despite opportunities to leave and ‌hopes that the crisis ends by opening a "new ‌page" for independent media sites that allows them to obtain licences.

"I feel there has to be a way to do journalism ​in Egypt," she said. (Editing by Alexander Dziadosz and Gareth Jones)