Responding to the news that Lina Atallah, editor-in-chief of independent outlet Mada Masr, has been summoned to appear before Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) today for investigation in a new criminal case against her, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Regional Impact, Yasmine Ahmed, said:
“It is utterly disgraceful that the Egyptian authorities are once again targeting Lina Atallah for the brave and professional reporting by her team at Mada Masr. This is the sixth case against Mada Masr and its journalists in six years, illustrating the Egyptian authorities’ relentless harassment of independent journalists who challenge the state-controlled narrative.
“Lina Atallah has been bravely leading one of the few remaining independent media outlets in Egypt and should never have been targeted with these successive investigations. Egyptian authorities must immediately end all judicial harassment against her and Mada Masr staff.
“This summons is part of a wider crackdown on independent media and freedom of expression. It comes just weeks after the arbitrary arrest of six journalists at the fact-checking platform Matsadaash who are being held in pretrial detention pending criminal investigation. Instead of repeatedly subjecting journalists to unjust prosecution on unfounded terrorism-related or ‘false news’ charges, the authorities must release the Matsadaash journalists and allow journalists to investigate and report free from intimidation, harassment or fear of reprisals.”
Background
Over the past six years, Lina Atallah and her Mada Masr colleagues have faced six politically motivated prosecutions over their reporting. Most recently, on 4 August 2025, the authorities summoned Atallah for questioning on unfounded charges, including “spreading false news” and “operating a website without a license,” over an article published on 31 July 2025 about deteriorating detention conditions in Badr 3 prison. She was released on bail pending investi
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