Egypt Releases Journalist Lina Attalah

Egyptian authorities released independent journalist Lina Attalah from custody on Tuesday after her legal team paid a three-million Egyptian pound ($53,400) fine.

A Cairo court imposed the maximum penalty and ordered the immediate shutdown of her news outlet, Mada Masr, over allegations of operating without a licence.

Defence lawyer Hassan al-Azhari confirmed her release, saying his team also found a 2024 sentence in absentia that handed Attalah a one-year prison term and an additional fine.

The legal team appealed the ruling, setting a new court hearing for November 11.

Rights organisations and press freedom advocates swiftly condemned the ruling and Attalah’s temporary detention, framing the actions as a severe crackdown on independent journalism.

Describing irregular court proceedings, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) head Hossam Bahgat explained that the judge appointed an outside lawyer over Attalah’s objections and dictated motions into the official record without defence consent.

Highlighting the broader threat to media freedom, Committee to Protect Journalists regional director Sara Qudah stated, “If Egypt can put in custody one of its most respected editors and shut down her newsroom, no independent journalist in the country is safe.”

The shutdown of Mada Masr marks the sixth legal case brought against the publication and its editor in six years.

According to EIPR metrics, Egyptian authorities currently hold 26 journalists in connection with their professional work, including six staff members from the fact-checking platform Matsadaash who face terrorism-related charges following September raids.

Warning of an accelerating systemic effort to silence independent media, Bahgat noted: “This can only mean that Egypt’s security agencies are moving from years of harassing independent media to wiping them out completely.”