Egyptian court convicts Mada Masr editor Lina Attalah, fines her and orders outlet's closure

An Egyptian court on Tuesday convicted Lina Attalah, editor-in-chief of the independent outlet Mada Masr, of operating or managing a website without a licence.

The New Cairo Misdemeanours Court fined her 3 million Egyptian pounds. BBC gives this as about $53,500 and Al Jazeera as $53,400. The court also ordered Mada Masr's closure. BBC says the fine is the maximum penalty for the offence. Al Jazeera says the law sets fines of 1 million to 3 million pounds.

Attalah was taken into custody after the ruling. She was released several hours later, after Mada Masr paid the fine in full.

According to Al Jazeera, the ruling is based on Article 105 of Egypt's 2018 media law. Al Jazeera also reports that the court ordered the confiscation of the outlet's equipment and devices. Mada Masr, founded in 2013, has been blocked inside Egypt since 2017, according to Al Jazeera.

According to Mada Masr, Attalah learned during her release procedures that she had been sentenced in absentia in 2024 to one year in prison. The charges were publishing false news and managing an unlicensed website. Mada Masr says her lawyers have challenged that ruling. It says a retrial hearing is scheduled for 11 November.

What each side says

According to BBC, Attalah rejected the charge. Both outlets report that she objected in court to being represented by a court-appointed lawyer.

Hossam Bahgat, head of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, attended the hearing. BBC reports that he told AFP that the judge denied several defence requests. Bahgat also said the judge appointed a lawyer from the Lawyers' Syndicate despite Attalah's objection. He said the judge then dictated motions on behalf of this lawyer, "who had not uttered a single word".

In an editorial cited by Al Jazeera, Mada Masr said the court refused requests to review the case file, submit evidence and call witnesses. Mada Masr says it applied for a licence in 2018 and 2020 and received no reply. It says a new application has been pending since June 2023.

Amnesty International's Yasmine Ahmed said in a statement: "Today's decision represents a crushing blow to press freedom in Egypt and marks a dark day for independent journalism in the country." According to BBC, the Committee to Protect Journalists called for Attalah's release. According to Al Jazeera, Journalists' Syndicate head Khaled el-Balshy said the union would take legal action to appeal the ruling.

What is not known

The reports reviewed by Vocemundi include no statement from the court, the prosecution, the government or the media regulator. Al Jazeera reported no immediate official comment. The accounts of the hearing come from Mada Masr, its lawyers and Hossam Bahgat, head of an independent rights group. They cannot be checked against an official record.

Analysis

The verdict raises practical and legal questions that the reports reviewed by Vocemundi do not answer. One is how a closure order would apply to a site reportedly already blocked inside Egypt since 2017. Another is how the 2024 in-absentia sentence and its scheduled retrial on 11 November relate to the current case. The Journalists' Syndicate's planned appeal could test the 2018 media law's licensing rules in court. Without official comment, the authorities' reasoning is unknown. Supporters of press freedom and supporters of strict media regulation are likely to read the case differently. Its wider effect on Egyptian journalism remains open.

Produced by the Vocemundi newsroom with AI assistance.