Washington, D.C., October 2, 2026—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Egyptian authorities to immediately
release
the six detained journalists working for investigative media platform Matsadaash, “Don’t Believe It”, reveal their whereabouts, ensure they have prompt access to lawyers and families, and drop any charges stemming solely from their legitimate journalistic work.
The crackdown
began
with security forces raiding the homes of journalists
Mohamed Ashraf Abu Emeira
and
Abdallah Qadry
, who were arrested on Monday evening and early Tuesday morning. By the end of Tuesday, security forces had also detained
Islam Barakat
and
Omar Helal
at their homes in Gharbiya and Port Said, respectively, while two more journalists,
Mohamed Mahmoud
and
Mohamed Adel
, were arrested in Cairo streets.
“The arrest and apparent disappearance of six journalists from a single newsroom is a grave escalation in Egypt’s campaign against independent journalism,” said CPJ Regional Director Sara Qudah. “The international community must not look away as Egyptian authorities systematically intimidate and silence independent media. CPJ warns that this crackdown is a direct assault on journalists’ fundamental right to report freely and independently, and risks deepening a climate of fear that threatens independent journalism across Egypt.”
On Thursday, Egypt’s Interior Ministry
accused
Matsadaash of seeking to destabilize the country through disinformation, describing it as an unlicensed, foreign-run page spreading false content. The statement also linked the platform and its founder, Abdelrahman Mansour, to the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt
designated
a terrorist organization in 2013.
Speaking to CPJ by phone, Mansour rejected the accusations.
“We have no affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, and the authorities know this. In 2023, our former colleague Karim Asad was arrested after we published a major investigation. The authorities investigated these
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