Geneva (Switzerland) (AFP) - The United Nations criticized what it said was “an escalation in attacks by the Egyptian authorities on freedom of the press,” calling for an end to the “harassment” of journalists and media institutions.
Published on: 10/11/2026 - 12:35
In recent weeks, the Egyptian authorities suspended the entire editorial team of the “Mtsadeqesh” platform for verifying news and verifying information and ordered the closure of the independent “Mada Masr” website, whose editor-in-chief, Lina Atallah, is expected to appear in court on Wednesday, with the possibility that this will result in her imprisonment after she was sentenced in absentia to one year in prison.
Spokesman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Thameen Al-Khitan, said, “We are witnessing an escalation in attacks by the Egyptian authorities on freedom of the press, including the targeting, persecution, and harassment of independent journalists,” adding, “It is necessary to put an immediate end to these disturbing developments, and enable journalists to perform their vital work freely, away from intimidation and retaliatory reactions.”
Egypt has long faced criticism over its human rights record and has no longer left any space for dissent over the past decade.
Regarding the editorial team of “Mtsadeqesh,” Khaitan said that the six journalists are still in detention, while “their lawyers reported that they were subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment, and were forced to record fabricated confessions.”
He called on the authorities to "release all journalists of the Matsadeqesh website, and drop the charges against them against the backdrop of the legitimate exercise of their journalistic work," calling for the opening of an investigation "into all allegations related to torture, ill-treatment, or forced confessions, and holding those responsible for these violations accountable."
He stressed that in the meantime, "they must be granted the right to communicate confidentially with their lawyers, contact their families, and obtain the necessary health care and medicines they need, in addition to being detained in humanitarian conditions."
Egyptian authorities detained Atallah for several hours last month after a court fined her three million pounds ($53,500) for running the Mada Masr website without a license.
Her trial constitutes what human rights organizations described as a dangerous escalation in the security campaign against press freedom in Egypt.
Al-Khitan called on Egypt “to put an end to all forms of harassment targeting journalists and media institutions, and to respect and implement the right to freedom of expression, including the right to obtain information.”
He added, "The measures taken to obstruct the work of the Metsadeqsh and Mada Masr websites must be reversed."
© 2026 AFP
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