Egyptian journalist's retrial adjourned as UN warns of 'assaults on press freedom'
Summary
A Cairo court postponed the retrial of Mada Masr editor-in-chief Lina Attalah until 18 November after her lawyers asked for a new judge. The case comes amid UN warnings about pressure on independent journalists in Egypt and follows a separate conviction that ordered Mada Masr to close.Key Facts
- Attalah co-founded Mada Masr, an independent Egyptian news outlet, and serves as its editor-in-chief.
- The court adjourned the opening hearing on Wednesday after Attalah’s defence lawyers requested a new judge.
- A separate court last month convicted Attalah of operating a website without a licence, fined her 3 million Egyptian pounds and ordered Mada Masr to shut down.
- Attalah also faces a retrial over a one-year prison sentence issued in absentia in 2024 for spreading false news and operating a website without a licence.
- The UN warned of widening attacks on press freedom by Egyptian authorities, including the targeting and harassment of independent journalists.
- Reporters Without Borders ranked Egypt 169th out of 180 countries for press freedom in its 2026 analysis and said at least 26 journalists arrested in recent years remain detained.
- Six journalists from the independent fact-checking platform Matsda2sh were arrested in September and later charged with joining the Muslim Brotherhood and financing terrorism; their lawyers say they were beaten and electrocuted in detention.
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