Egyptian journalist Lina Attalah detained after court orders news site's closure

What the report says

Egyptian authorities have detained Lina Attalah, editor-in-chief of the independent news site Mada Masr, after a New Cairo court convicted her of running an unlicensed website and ordered the outlet shut down, according to the BBC report and statements from her lawyers and rights groups. The court also imposed a 3 million Egyptian pound fine, the maximum penalty for the charge, which Attalah had denied.

The case adds to long-running pressure on Mada Masr, a Cairo-based outlet founded in 2013 and known for critical reporting. The BBC reported that the site has repeatedly sought a licence from the state media regulator under Egypt’s 2018 media law, but those applications were rejected or went unanswered. Amnesty International said Attalah had already faced years of harassment, including multiple criminal investigations linked to the outlet’s work.

Rights groups reacted sharply to the verdict. Amnesty called it a severe setback for press freedom, while the Committee to Protect Journalists said the ruling showed that independent journalists in Egypt remain vulnerable. The BBC also noted that the case comes amid broader concerns about media freedom in Egypt, where human rights groups say authorities have intensified their crackdown on dissent since President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi took power in 2013. The development matters because Mada Masr is viewed as one of the country’s last major independent media voices.