Four journalists from an independent Egyptian outlet charged with “publishing false news”

They were questioned after an article about alleged financial irregularities by members of a pro-government party

Sep. 8 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Egyptian authorities have charged four journalists from the independent media outlet Mada Masr, including its editor-in-chief, Lina Atalá, for an article about the pro-government Future of the Nation party in which they pointed to the existence of an investigation implicating several high-ranking officials. training with financial irregularities.

The media itself has indicated that the defendants are Atalá, Rana Mamdú, Sara Seifedín and Bisan Kasab, who were released on bail on Wednesday after being questioned by the Egyptian Prosecutor’s Office. All of them have been accused of defaming party members, using social media to harass party members, and “publishing false news” to disrupt social peace and harm public interests.

Likewise, Atalá has been accused of operating a website without a license, after Mada Masr has tried unsuccessfully to obtain it since 2018 under the new law that regulates the operation of the press in the African country. The media has highlighted that she has sent the papers “on multiple occasions”, without the authorities having responded to these requests to regularize her situation.

The newspaper’s editor-in-chief was released on bail of 20,000 Egyptian pounds (about 1,035 euros), while the other three journalists were released on bail of 5,000 pounds (about 260 euros). The four received summonses to testify during the day on Tuesday after a series of demands presented by parliamentarians and members of the Future of the Nation party, which supports the president, Abdelfatá al Sisi.

The party published a statement following the aforementioned article in which it accused Mada Masr of “using dubious and unprofessional tactics to destabilize the country’s security” and announced that it would take legal action to obtain “compensation” for “the damage suffered by the party members”.

Mada Masr is one of the few Egyptian media not yet under the direct control or influence of the authorities, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF). In fact, its website has been blocked in Egypt since 2017, while at least 23 journalists are currently detained in the African country, half of them awaiting trial.

RSF has highlighted that practically all of the detained journalists are accused of “spreading false news”, among other charges. Al Sisi has been accused on numerous occasions of limiting freedom of expression and the press since he came to power after a coup in June 2014, when he overthrew the then president, the Islamist Mohamed Mursi, who had become the first and the only president elected in Egypt after the elections held after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak during the ‘Arab Spring’.