Egyptian journalist Lina Attalah detained after court orders news site's closure

In practice, the editor-in-chief of the independent Egyptian news outlet Mada Masr has been taken into custody after a court convicted her of managing an unlicensed website and ordered its closure, her lawyers say.

Key points

• Lina Attalah will be held until she pays the fine of 3m Egyptian pounds ($53, 500; £40, 100) additionally handed down by the New Cairo Misdemeanours Court.
• Egypt is among the top jailers of journalists globally, with 25 at present behind bars, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
• Amnesty International remarked Lina Attalah had additionally faced "years of harassment and intimidation", including six criminal investigations over Mada Masr's reporting.
• It was founded in 2013, was a vital source of critical reporting in Egypt and that it had long faced pressure from authorities over its journalism.
• Attalah was published on bail and afterwards referred to trial before the New Cairo Misdemeanours Court on the charge of operating a website without a licence.

Lina Attalah will be held until she pays the fine of 3m Egyptian pounds ($53, 500; £40, 100) additionally handed down by the New Cairo Misdemeanours Court. It was the maximum feasible penalty for the charge. It she had rejected.

In practice, the human rights group Amnesty International remarked the verdict represented "a crushing blow to press freedom".

It comes only weeks after six journalists working for the independent fact-checking platform Matsda2sh were charged with belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.

President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has overseen what human rights groups say is an unprecedented crackdown on dissent since he led the military's overthrow of his predecessor, Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Morsi, in 2013.

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Meanwhile, the CPJ remarked Mada Masr. It was founded in 2013, was a vital source of critical reporting in Egypt and that it had long faced pressure from authorities over its journalism.

Meanwhile, the site had repeatedly sought an operating licence from the Supreme Media Regulatory Council (SMRC) since a new media law was passed in 2018, but that its applications were either rejected or left unanswered, the media watchdog continued.

Last week, prosecutors summoned her for questioning over allegations of publishing "false news" and operating a website without a licence.

As well as a letter from the SMRC regarding its legal status, mada Masr's lawyer remarked the investigation included a recent report that the website had published concerning a wave of protests in prisons nationwide.

During Tuesday's hearing, Judge Mohammed Mubarak ordered the courtroom to be cleared of everyone except Attalah, her eight-person defence team, and Hossam Bahgat, head of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), an independent human rights group.

Bahgat informed AFP news agency that security personnel then filed in before the judge unveiled that the court was denying a number of procedural requests produced by the defence and appointing its own lawyer for Attalah.

In a move that astonished all those present, the judge recorded in the official court minutes that the court had appointed a lawyer from the Lawyers' Syndicate to represent the defence, he remarked. Lina herself spoke up to object to this lawyer being appointed to represent her. It the judge refused to record in the court minutes.

"In an even more shocking turn, the judge proceeded to dictate motions on behalf of this lawyer – who had not uttered a single word – and entered them into the official record, " he continued.

Meanwhile, the judge then confirmed the fine for Attalah and ordered Mada Masr's closure "amid shouts and protests from the defence", before she was detained, according to Bahgat.

Amnesty International cautioned that the court's verdict marked "a dark day for independent journalism" in Egypt and demanded that it be overturned.

"This draconian ruling is the culmination of years of relentless harassment and unjust proceedings designed to shut down one of the country's last remaining independent media voices, " remarked the group's senior director for regional impact, Yasmine Ahmed.

"Lina Attalah should never have been prosecuted for exercising her right to freedom of expression and doing her journalistic job."

CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah remarked: "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. Attalah must be published immediately, and Mada Masr must be allowed to keep reporting."

Taken together, the developments around egyptian journalist Lina Attalah detained after court orders news site' s closure point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.