2 publishers · first seen Mon, 26 Oct 2026 14:46 UTC · updated Wed, 28 Oct 2026 14:16 UTC
Lina Attalah, editor-in-chief of the independent news outlet Mada Masr, was briefly detained and fined 3 million Egyptian pounds by a Cairo court, which also ordered the closure of the website and the confiscation of its equipment. The court convicted her of managing an unlicensed website, a charge her legal team contested, noting that Mada Masr had applied for a license three years earlier without receiving a response. Attalah was released after the fine was paid, but her legal team revealed she had been sentenced in absentia in 2024 to one year in prison and a 20,000 Egyptian pound fine, which they are appealing. The case drew widespread condemnation from press freedom groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists, which called for the verdict to be overturned and for Attalah to be released immediately.
The trial, held at Cairo's New Cairo misdemeanor court, concluded just five days after the case was referred to trial, following a rapid legal process that began with an investigation on 19 October.
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