Egypt’s six Matsadash journalists remain detained, UN says

Six journalists from Egyptian fact-checking website Matsadash remained in detention on Tuesday, 10 November, the UN human rights office said, according to news.un.org. OHCHR called for their release and for allegations of mistreatment to be investigated, as separate court action against independent outlet Mada Masr and its editor Lina Attalah added to pressure on Egypt’s independent press.

• OHCHR said the six detained journalists make up Matsadash’s entire newsroom.
• The rights office called for their release, access to lawyers and healthcare, and an investigation into allegations made by their lawyers.
• Mada Masr was ordered closed after a separate case against Attalah; she was due in court for a retrial on 11 November.

OHCHR spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan named the detained journalists as Mohamed Ashraf Abu Emeira, Abdallah Qadry, Islam Barakat, Omar Helal, Mohamed Mahmoud and Mohamed Adel. He told journalists in Geneva that the case formed part of what he called “widening assaults on press freedom” by Egyptian authorities. The allegations of torture, other ill-treatment and forced confessions were attributed to the journalists’ lawyers in the UN report.

What happened in the separate Mada Masr case

Reuters reported that a court convicted Mada Masr editor Lina Attalah the previous month of operating an unlicensed website. She was detained and then released after paying a fine, and the court ordered the outlet closed. Reuters said Mada Masr had shut its Giza newsroom while awaiting an appeal. Attalah told Reuters the case put the outlet in “existential danger.”

Attalah was due to return to court on Wednesday, 11 November, for a retrial in a separate case dating to 2024. Reuters reported that she had previously received a one-year prison sentence in absentia for publishing false news and operating an unlicensed website. France 24, in a report credited to AFP, also described the retrial and said Attalah had received that sentence without her knowledge. The outcome of the scheduled hearing was not established in these reports.

The licensing dispute has a longer history. Reuters reported that Mada Masr says it has sought a licence since a 2018 media law introduced the requirement, with its most recent application completed in 2023 and no formal decision received. The outlet has been blocked in Egypt since 2017 and faced investigations and fines before the current case, Reuters reported. Egypt’s Supreme Judicial Council rejected claims that Attalah’s trial the previous month was unfair. Authorities did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment on the case or wider press-freedom issues; Reuters noted that they have said media must operate within the law and respect national security.

What the cases mean for journalists and readers

OHCHR called for measures taken against both Matsadash and Mada Masr to be overturned. Al-Kheetan said people in Egypt have a right to read and hear views from the outlets on matters of public concern. The two cases involve different journalists and proceedings; the UN statement addressed the Matsadash detainees and also raised Attalah’s separate case as part of its warning about pressure on independent media.