{"id":50571,"date":"2026-11-10T20:07:02","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T18:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=50571"},"modified":"2026-11-10T20:07:02","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T18:07:02","slug":"egypts-independent-press-fights-to-survive-as-mada-masr-editor-returns-to-court","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/egypts-independent-press-fights-to-survive-as-mada-masr-editor-returns-to-court\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt\u2019s independent press fights to survive as Mada Masr editor returns to court"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>An old villa, tucked away among mango and lemon trees in the back streets of Giza, once resounded with the clatter of keyboards and the chatter of people around \u200bits two long meeting tables but has now fallen silent.<\/div>\n<div>\nOrdered by a court to close last month, Egypt&#8217;s best-known independent news site, Mada Masr, has shuttered the villa \u200cas it awaits an appeal. Editor-in-chief Lina Attalah faces a separate case this week that could land her in prison.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Human rights groups see the Mada Masr case, along with the recent arrest of the entire newsroom of fact-checking outlet Matsaddash, as a stark sign of a crackdown that is testing whether independent journalism can survive in Egypt, the Arab world&#8217;s most populous country.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Founded in 2013, Mada Masr has long stood out in a media landscape dominated by outlets \u200bowned by or aligned with the state. It has won international awards and produced coverage closely followed by diplomats, researchers and foreign correspondents.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>While the site, blocked in Egypt since \u200b2017, has faced investigations and fines before, this time it is &#8220;in existential danger&#8221;, Attalah told <i>Reuters.<\/i><\/div>\n<div><i>\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n<div>Rights and civil society groups have condemned the prosecution, while the \u2060European Union said the &#8220;preservation and protection of independent media outlets are essential&#8221;.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>On Tuesday, the United Nations (UN) human rights office added its voice to calls for Egyptian authorities to allow journalists &#8220;to carry out their essential \u200bwork free from intimidation and reprisals&#8221;.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Egyptian authorities did not respond to<i> Reuters<\/i> requests for comment on the Mada Masr case or wider issues of press freedom. They have repeatedly said the state is committed \u200bto freedom of expression but that media must operate within the law and respect national security.<\/div>\n<div>Egypt\u2019s Supreme Judicial Council has rejected claims that Attalah&#8217;s trial last month was unfair.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Egypt\u2019s foreign partners have also shown limited willingness to let rights concerns disrupt strategic ties.<\/div>\n<div><i>\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n<div>In September, the United States, a key security partner, waived human rights conditions which include protecting press freedoms on part of the roughly $1.3 billion in annual military aid it provides to Egypt.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":47654,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-50571","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Egypt\u2019s foreign partners have also shown limited willingness to let rights concerns disrupt strategic ties.","published_date":"","news_description":"Egypt\u2019s foreign partners have also shown limited willingness to let rights concerns disrupt strategic ties.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50573,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/50571\/revisions\/50573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=50571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}