Friday September 9, 2022
(R-L) Mada Masr editor-in-chief Lina Attalah, journalists Beesan Kassab, Sara Seif Eddin and Rana Mamdouh pose in front of the Cairo Appeals Prosecution after being released on bail (Mada Masr)
The editor-in-chief and three journalists from independent
Egyptian news outlet Mada Masr were interrogated by judicial officers on
Wednesday for allegedly "spreading false information", the
publication said in a statement.
Mada Masr editor Lina Attalah and journalists Rana Mamdouh,
Sara Seif Eddin and Beesan Kassab were released on bail on Wednesday evening
after being questioned at the Cairo Appeals Prosecution.
They were summoned following dozens of complaints from
members of the pro-government Future of a Nation, the largest party in
parliament, over an article published on 31 August accusing them of
"serious financial infractions" that "should lead to their departure
from the political scene".
The journalists were charged with slander and defamation,
using social media to harass the party members, and publishing false news
intended to disturb the public peace and cause damage to the public interest,
according to Mada Masr.
Attalah also faces charges of operating a website without a
licence.
Mada Masr said in its statement that it has been trying to
obtain a licence since 2018, including submitting paperwork on several
occasions and making official inquiries, but it still has received no response
regarding its legal status.
'Bastion of free
press'
Mada Masr has been described as Egypt's "last bastion
of free press" and has published reports and investigations critical of
Egypt's government. Like hundreds of news outlets, the website is blocked
inside Egypt and can only be accessed with a VPN.
In late 2019, police raided its offices in Cairo and
arrested three journalists, including Attalah, who was briefly detained again
in May 2020.
International NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on
Wednesday that it was "extremely concerned by this threat to one of the
few remaining Egyptian media outlets not to have been brought under the
government's control.
"The constant harassment, intimidation and arrests of
journalists by Egypt's government are reaching dangerous heights and must cease
at once."
In 2021, Egypt ranked as the third-worst jailer of
journalists, with 25 journalists in prison, according to the Committee to
Protect Journalists.
Since Sisi came to power in a military coup in 2013, his
government has been accused of overseeing the worst crackdown on human rights
in the country's modern history. Thousands have been jailed, tortured and
forcibly disappeared, while others have been forced to live in exile for fear
of repression.
Around 65,000 political prisoners are estimated to be
languishing in jail, with at least 26,000 of those held in pre-trial detention,
according to the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.