Egyptian court orders closure of independent news outlet Mada Masr

Security officers carried Lina Attalah out of a Cairo courtroom on Tuesday after a judge ordered the closure of her independent news outlet, Mada Masr. The editor-in-chief was convicted of running an unlicensed website and remains in custody at the courthouse.

The ruling marks the most severe outcome in six years of legal proceedings against the outlet. Judge Mohamed Mubarak of the ninth circuit of the New Cairo Misdemeanour Court imposed the maximum penalty allowed under the law. This included a fine of 3 million Egyptian pounds, roughly 53,500 dollars. The court also ordered the confiscation of the organization's property.

Hossam Bahgat, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, observed the hearing. He reported that the judge cleared the room of everyone except Attalah and her legal team during deliberations. Plainclothes officers and guards then entered the space, accompanied by an officer from the National Security Agency.

The judge rejected all procedural requests from the defense, including motions to submit documents and hear witnesses. The defense team refused to enter a plea while these requests remained unanswered. The judge then appointed a lawyer unknown to the defense team to represent Attalah. Bahgat described the move as astonishing to all present.

Attalah told the court she did not accept the appointed lawyer, but the judge refused to record her objection in the official minutes. Bahgat stated that the judge began writing down requests attributed to the court-appointed lawyer, who had not spoken. The verdict was read over objections from the defense team.

Sara Qudah, regional director for the Committee to Protect Journalists, called the detention an attack on free speech. She stated that the conviction represents a direct message aimed at dismantling independent media in Egypt. Qudah noted that Attalah and Mada Masr provide critical reporting on issues of public interest. She added that if one of the country's most respected editors can be jailed, no independent journalist is safe.

Attalah was referred for trial on October 22, 2026. The case number is 9072/2026. She had been questioned for more than six hours the day before. Prosecutors initially questioned her on publishing false news regarding prison protests, but that accusation was dropped. She was released on bail of 100,000 Egyptian pounds, approximately 1,053 dollars, before the trial began.

Mada Masr was founded by Attalah in 2013. The website has been blocked inside Egypt since May 2017. The outlet applied for a license multiple times after a new media law passed in 2018. It learned in 2022 that the regulator had rejected its application. The Journalists' Syndicate argued that the proper recourse for licensing disputes is the administrative courts, not criminal prosecution.

This is the sixth legal case brought against Mada Masr in six years. In August 2025, Attalah was questioned over false news and licensing after reporting on abuses at Badr 3 prison. In 2019, security forces raided the Cairo office and detained Attalah and colleagues. The current verdict follows the arrest of six journalists from the investigative platform Matsadaash in late September.

Egypt ranks 169th out of 180 countries in the 2026 index by Reporters Without Borders. The group noted that the country remains one of the world's largest jailers of journalists. Human Rights Watch expressed concern that licensing requirements are being used to restrict independent media.