Egypt court fines journalist Lina Attalah and orders news site's closure

The CPJ said Mada Masr, which 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.

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 added.

Amnesty International said Lina Attalah had also faced "years of harassment and intimidation", including six criminal investigations over Mada Masr's reporting.

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

Mada Masr's lawyer said the investigation included a recent report that the website had published about a wave of protests in prisons across the country, as well as a letter from the SMRC regarding its legal status.

Attalah was released on bail and later referred to trial before the New Cairo Misdemeanours Court on the charge of operating a website without a licence.

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 told AFP news agency that security personnel then filed in before the judge announced that the court was denying several procedural requests made 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 said. "Lina herself spoke up to object to this lawyer being appointed to represent her, which the judge refused to record in the court minutes.