Amnesty International has called on the Egyptian authorities to end what it described as the continuing judicial harassment of Lina Atallah, editor-in-chief of the independent news website Mada Masr, after she was summoned to appear before the Supreme State Security Prosecution today, Wednesday, 21 October 2026, for questioning in a new criminal case.
In a statement sent to Zawia3, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Regional Impact, Yasmine Ahmed, said it was “utterly disgraceful that the Egyptian authorities are once again targeting Lina Atallah for the brave and professional reporting by her team at Mada Masr.” She noted that this was the sixth case against the outlet and its journalists in six years, “illustrating the Egyptian authorities’ relentless harassment of independent journalists who challenge the state-controlled narrative.”
She added that Atallah “has been bravely leading one of the few remaining independent media outlets in Egypt and should never have been targeted with these successive investigations,” urging the authorities to “immediately end all judicial harassment against her and Mada Masr staff.”
The organization described the summons as part of a wider crackdown on independent media and freedom of expression, coming just weeks after the arbitrary arrest of six journalists at the fact-checking platform Matsda2sh, who remain in pretrial detention pending criminal investigations. It called for their release and for journalists to be allowed to investigate and report without intimidation, harassment or fear of reprisals, rather than repeatedly facing prosecution on terrorism-related or “false news” charges.
Over the past six years, Atallah and her colleagues at Mada Masr have faced six politically motivated prosecutions over their reporting. On 4 August 2025, she was summoned for questioning on charges including “spreading false news” and “operating a website without a license,” over an article published on 31 July 2025 about deteriorating detention conditions in Badr 3 prison. She was subsequently released on bail pending investigation. Criminal investigations against her and the outlet’s staff remain open in five cases, while Mada Masr has unsuccessfully sought a license since 2018.
On the same day that Atallah was summoned for questioning, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi spoke at the Egypt Forum 2026 conference, saying that the government “listens, discusses, and accepts any criticism.”
The crackdown has extended beyond imprisoned journalists to those who took part in a sit-in at the Journalists Syndicate that began on 3 October 2026 in solidarity with the Matsda2sh journalists. On 5 October, journalist Rasha Azab, one of the participants, was summoned for questioning over a social media post criticizing the Interior Ministry. The Supreme State Security Prosecution accused her of terrorism-related offenses before releasing her on bail of EGP 10,000 (approximately $207). On 19 October 2026, the journalists announced that they were suspending the sit-in.
