Mada Masr editor released after fine as Egyptian court orders website closed
Lina Attalah paid a 3 million Egyptian pound fine, while a rights groups’ statement said her lawyers planned to appeal the closure order.
Mada Masr editor-in-chief Lina Attalah was released after paying a 3 million Egyptian pound fine imposed by an Egyptian court that also ordered the independent news website closed, Human Rights Watch said in an October 28 update.
The New Cairo Misdemeanor Court convicted Attalah on October 27, 2026. Mada Masr said the conviction concerned operating the website without a licence and that the ruling included confiscation of its property. It was not clear whether the closure and confiscation orders had been implemented.
A statement published by the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy said Attalah’s lawyers intended to appeal the closure ruling. It also said she had spent seven hours in custody following the judgment, before her release.
The case reached trial after the Supreme State Security Prosecution referred Attalah on October 22 over allegations that she had established and operated an unlicensed website, according to Human Rights Watch and Mada Masr. The outlet’s legal counsel, Hassan al-Azhari, said prosecutors had also questioned her about alleged false news, but that accusation was excluded from the referral.
Mada Masr said its defence sought time to examine the case file. According to the outlet, the court refused requests to present documents and call witnesses, and appointed a different lawyer over objections from Attalah and her chosen counsel.
The outlet says it applied for licensing in 2018 and again in 2020, brought a court challenge against the rejection in 2022, and supplied further documents in 2023 without receiving a subsequent response.
Under Egypt’s 2018 media law, any website operating in the country needs a licence from the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, Human Rights Watch noted. The council can suspend or block sites that have none, and its decisions can be appealed before the administrative court.
The same law contains guarantees for media freedom and bars censorship, confiscation and closure of Egyptian newspapers and media, while permitting limited censorship in wartime or during general mobilisation.
Separately, the TIMEP-published statement said Attalah’s defence had challenged a one-year prison sentence issued in her absence in 2024 over false-news and website-licensing charges. A hearing on that objection was scheduled for November 11. Human Rights Watch called for the case against her to be dropped.
Sources
- wipo.int — primary source: Law No. 180 of 2018 on Press, Media and the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, Egypt, WIPO Lex · accessed 2026-10-29
- Al Jazeera — media: Egypt orders closure of leading independent news site Mada Masr · accessed 2026-10-29
- Middle East Eye — media: Egypt jails Mada Masr editor and orders outlet closed · accessed 2026-10-29
- madamasr.com — media: Lina Attalah in custody after court issues LE3 mn fine, orders Mada Masr’s closure | MadaMasr · Mada Masr Editor-in-Chief Lina Attalah referred to trial on charges of running unlicensed website | MadaMasr · accessed 2026-10-29
- timep.org — media: Organizations Condemn Mada Masr Shutdown, Stand With Editor-in-Chief Lina Attalah - The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy · accessed 2026-10-29
- hrw.org — media: Egypt: Drop Charges Against Prominent Journalist | Human Rights Watch · accessed 2026-10-29
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