Egypt orders closure of leading independent news site Mada Masr
Editor Lina Attalah was freed once a $53,400 fine was paid, only to learn of a one-year sentence passed in her absence.
An Egyptian court has ordered the closure of Mada Masr, one of the country’s last prominent independent news outlets, and fined its editor-in-chief, Lina Attalah, three million Egyptian pounds ($53,400) for running a website without a licence.
The New Cairo Misdemeanour Court also ordered the confiscation of the outlet’s equipment and devices. Attalah was taken into custody after Tuesday’s ruling. She was released several hours later, after Mada Masr paid the fine in full.
During the release procedures, Attalah learned that she had been sentenced in absentia in 2024 to one year in prison, on charges of publishing false news and running an unlicensed website. Mada Masr said Attalah’s lawyers have challenged that ruling, and a retrial hearing is scheduled for November 11.
Tuesday’s ruling is based on Article 105 of Egypt’s 2018 media law, which sets fines of one to three million Egyptian pounds ($17,800–$53,400), plus closure and confiscation, for operating an unlicensed website.