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Egyptian journalist Lina Attalah, editor of the independent news outlet Mada Masr, faces a criminal court hearing that has triggered widespread international concern. Attalah is being retried after authorities handed her a one-year prison sentence in absentia in 2024 — a ruling she only learned about last month. The charges against her include operating a news website without a licence and publishing false news, accusations that Egyptian authorities frequently use against journalists and dissidents.
A Trial Shrouded in Due Process Concerns
Attalah discovered the in absentia sentence only after her release from a separate detention. In that earlier case, a court fined her three million Egyptian pounds, roughly $56,000, on similar charges. The court also ordered the closure of Mada Masr, a publication that has survived more than a decade of government pressure on independent media.
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The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson, Thameen Al-Kheetan, said Attalah’s prosecution raises serious concerns about due process and fair trial standards. On Tuesday, the United Nations also criticised what it described as Egypt’s widening assaults on press freedom, specifically citing the targeting, prosecution and harassment of independent journalists.
Mada Masr’s Licensing Battle
In an interview with AFP ahead of her trial, Attalah said Egypt is trying to eliminate what little space remains for independent media. She noted that Mada Masr submitted repeated licensing applications over eight years, none of which authorities answered. “We’re not against regulation,” she said. “We have a problem when the licensing becomes a tool of control, a tool of exclusion.”
Cairo has faced sustained criticism over its human rights record. Over the past decade, authorities have shut down nearly all avenues for public dissent, leaving independent journalism in an increasingly precarious position.
Broader Crackdown Draws Global Criticism
Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have described the current press crackdown as unprecedented. In September, authorities arrested the entire newsroom of Matsadaash, an Egyptian fact-checking platform. The six journalists remain in pretrial detention, which authorities have renewed multiple times. The UN’s rights commissioner reported that the journalists faced torture and were forced to record fabricated confessions, and called for their immediate release.
The crackdown has drawn condemnation from US lawmakers, the European Union, and more than 135 rights groups and media organisations. Among them, the Committee to Protect Journalists and Human Rights Watch have both spoken out strongly. CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah called on Egyptian authorities to end the crackdown immediately, reverse Mada Masr’s shutdown and uphold constitutional press freedom protections. She also urged the EU to raise these demands directly in its political dialogue with Egypt.
Meanwhile, Attalah remains a central figure in the fight for press freedom in Egypt. Her trial continues to draw global attention as international bodies and civil society groups press Cairo to reverse course.
