Egypt orders closure of leading independent news site Mada Masr

Editor Lina Attalah was freed once a $53,400 fine was paid, only to learn of a one-year sentence passed in her absence

Lina Attalah, editor-in-chief of Mada Masr [File: Roger Anis/AP]

An Egyptian court has ordered the closure of Mada Masr, one of the country’s last prominent independent news outlets, and fined its editor-in-chief, Lina Attalah, three million Egyptian pounds ($53,400) for running a website without a licence.

The New Cairo Misdemeanour Court also ordered the confiscation of the outlet’s equipment and devices. Attalah was taken into custody after Tuesday’s ruling. She was released several hours later, after Mada Masr paid the fine in full.

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During the release procedures, Attalah learned that she had been sentenced in absentia in 2024 to one year in prison, on charges of publishing false news and running an unlicensed website. Mada Masr said Attalah’s lawyers have challenged that ruling, and a retrial hearing is scheduled for November 11.

In an editorial published hours after the verdict, Mada Masr said it had entered court “with a measure of faith in the law and the justice system”. It added: “But what we found in court left none of that faith intact.”

The outlet said the court refused its lawyers’ requests to review the case file, submit additional evidence and call witnesses. According to Mada Masr, the judge then appointed “an unknown party” to act as Attalah’s defence lawyer, even though eight of her own lawyers were in court and she herself objected. The editorial said the judge wrote that lawyer’s requests himself “before issuing a verdict carrying the maximum penalty, with no review and no defence”.

Hossam Bahgat, head of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, attended the hearing. According to Mada Masr, he said the court went ahead with the appointment despite Attalah’s own objection to being represented by a court-appointed lawyer. Mada Masr’s lawyer, Hassan al-Azhari, told the Egyptian outlet Zawia3 that the court rejected the defence’s requests and then appointed a lawyer, a step Attalah and her team objected to.

Egypt’s website laws

Tuesday’s ruling is based on Article 105 of Egypt’s 2018 media law, which sets fines of one to three million Egyptian pounds ($17,800–$53,400), plus closure and confiscation, for operating an unlicensed website.

Mada Masr says it applied for a licence from the Supreme Council for Media Regulation in 2018 and again in 2020, without a reply. It says it learned of a rejection only when prosecutors raised it during a previous case in 2022. In 2023, an administrative court upheld the council’s refusal, citing the absence of proof that the outlet’s trademark was registered, although Mada Masr’s lawyer said he had submitted a trademark registration certificate. A new application has been pending since June 2023.

There was no immediate official comment on the verdict.

The head of the Journalists’ Syndicate, Khaled el-Balshy, said the union would take legal action to appeal the ruling.

Mada Masr was founded in 2013 and has been blocked inside Egypt since 2017. It says it has faced six cases in six years, and rights groups say this is the first to reach trial.

“We tried to defend the law,” the outlet wrote, “just as we tried to defend ourselves.”

Amnesty International’s senior director for regional impact, Yasmine Ahmed, said in a statement, “Today’s decision represents a crushing blow to press freedom in Egypt and marks a dark day for independent journalism in the country.”

“This draconian ruling is the culmination of years of relentless harassment and unjust proceedings designed to shut down one of the country’s last remaining independent media voices,” Ahmed added.

The verdict came on the same day that Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution, which investigates national security cases, renewed the detention of six journalists from the fact-checking platform Matsadaash for another 15 days.

编辑莉娜·阿塔拉缴纳了53400美元的罚款后获释，却得知在她缺席的情况下，法院判处了她一年监禁。

《Mada Masr》主编 Lina Attalah [文件：Roger Anis/美联社]

埃及一家法院下令关闭该国最后几家著名的独立新闻媒体之一 Mada Masr，并对其总编辑莉娜·阿塔拉处以 300 万埃及镑（53400 美元）的罚款，原因是她无证经营网站。

新开罗轻罪法庭还下令没收该店的设备和装置。周二判决后，阿塔拉被拘留。几个小时后，在马达马斯尔全额缴纳罚款后，她被释放。

埃及议会批准向沙特阿拉伯提供军事援助（共3条，第1条）

（共 3 个问题，第 2 个）为什么埃及如此谨慎地避免卷入也门冲突？

以色列军方拘留越境埃及公民（共3人）名单之3

在释放程序中，阿塔拉得知她因发布虚假新闻和运营无证网站而被缺席判处一年监禁，刑期将于2024年到期。据Mada Masr报道，阿塔拉的律师已对该判决提出上诉，重审听证会定于11月11日举行。

在判决公布数小时后发表的一篇社论中，《马达马斯尔报》表示，他们“怀着对法律和司法体系的一定信心”走进了法庭。社论补充道：“但我们在法庭上的所见所闻，彻底动摇了我们对法律和司法体系的信心。”

该媒体称，法院拒绝了律师们提出的审查案卷、提交补充证据和传唤证人的请求。据《马达马斯尔报》报道，尽管阿塔拉的八名律师都在场，而且她本人也提出了反对意见，但法官随后还是指定了一名“身份不明的人”担任阿塔拉的辩护律师。该报社论称，法官在“未经审查、不进行辩护的情况下，就做出了最高刑罚的判决”。

埃及个人权利倡议组织负责人霍萨姆·巴赫加特出席了听证会。据Mada Masr报道，巴赫加特表示，尽管阿塔拉本人反对由法院指派律师，但法院仍坚持指定律师。Mada Masr的律师哈桑·阿扎里告诉埃及媒体Zawia3，法院驳回了辩方的请求，并指派了一名律师，阿塔拉及其团队对此表示反对。

埃及网站法律

周二的裁决依据埃及 2018 年媒体法第 105 条，该条规定，运营未经许可的网站将被处以 100 万至 300 万埃及镑（17,800 至 53,400 美元）的罚款，外加关闭和没收财产。

Mada Masr表示，他们分别于2018年和2020年向最高媒体监管委员会申请了许可证，但均未收到回复。他们称，直到2022年检察官在另一起案件中提及此事，他们才得知申请被拒。2023年，一家行政法院维持了委员会的拒绝决定，理由是缺乏该媒体商标已注册的证据，尽管Mada Masr的律师表示他已提交了商标注册证书。自2023年6月以来，新的申请一直处于待审状态。

官方尚未对判决结果发表评论。

记者工会主席哈立德·巴尔希表示，工会将采取法律行动对裁决提出上诉。

Mada Masr 成立于 2013 年，自 2017 年以来一直被埃及政府封锁。该组织称，六年来它面临六起诉讼，人权组织表示，这是第一起进入审判阶段的案件。

该媒体写道：“我们试图捍卫法律，就像我们试图捍卫自己一样。”

国际特赦组织区域影响高级主管亚斯敏·艾哈迈德在一份声明中表示：“今天的决定对埃及的新闻自由是一个沉重的打击，标志着该国独立新闻业的黑暗一天。”

艾哈迈德补充说：“这项严苛的裁决是多年来持续不断的骚扰和不公正诉讼的最终结果，其目的是关闭该国仅存的独立媒体之一。”

就在同一天，负责调查国家安全案件的埃及最高国家安全检察院将事实核查平台 Matsadaash 的六名记者的拘留期限延长了 15 天。