Mada Masr Editor Lina Attalah to Face Trial in Cairo Over Website Licensing Charge

Lina Attalah, the editor-in-chief of the independent Egyptian news outlet Mada Masr, is due in a Cairo court Tuesday on a charge of operating a website without a license, a case that could bring a multimillion-pound fine and potentially force the outlet to close.

The first hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in the New Cairo Misdemeanor Court. Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution referred Attalah to trial on Oct. 22 in Case No. 9072/2026 on a charge described by Human Rights Watch as “establishing and managing a website without a license.” Prosecutors had summoned Attalah on Oct. 19 and questioned her on Oct. 21 over allegations including publishing “false news” and operating a website without a license. She was released that day on 100,000 Egyptian pounds, or about $2,000, bail. The next day, prosecutors referred her to trial on the licensing charge.

Under Egypt’s 2018 Press and Media Regulation Law, websites operating in the country are required to obtain a license from the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, the state body that oversees media licensing and regulation. A conviction in Attalah’s case can carry a fine of 1 million to 3 million Egyptian pounds and can also allow the closure of the outlet and confiscation of its equipment. More than 100 civil society organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have called on Egyptian authorities to drop the prosecution and grant Mada Masr a license. “The hasty prosecution of Lina Attalah marks another escalation in Egyptian authorities’ outrageous attack on independent media in the country. No journalist should face criminal prosecution for doing their job,” said Bassam Khawaja, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

The referral came a day after prosecutors questioned Attalah over the outlet’s reporting, according to Human Rights Watch. The Associated Press, citing Mada Masr, reported the case was linked to the outlet’s recent reporting on protests and alleged abuses in Egyptian prisons. Hassan al-Azhari, a lawyer for Mada Masr, described the speed of the referral as an “unjustified urgency,” according to AP.

Mada Masr says it applied for a media license in 2018, again in 2020 and submitted a new application in 2023. The outlet says authorities rejected an earlier application without notifying it and have not responded to the 2023 application.

The case has drawn attention because Mada Masr is one of Egypt’s best-known independent news outlets and has operated under pressure for years. Its website has been blocked inside Egypt since May 2017. Human Rights Watch said this is the sixth case in six years against Mada Masr or its journalists.

The prosecution also comes amid a broader squeeze on independent media. Egyptian security forces arrested six journalists from the independent platform Matsadaash on Sept. 28 and 29, and they remain in pretrial detention on charges including joining and financing a terrorist group and spreading false news, according to reporting by AP and the Committee to Protect Journalists. CPJ said 25 journalists were behind bars in Egypt as of early October.

No publicly posted written statement was located from the Supreme State Security Prosecution or Egypt’s public prosecutor setting out their account of Attalah’s referral. For Mada Masr, the stakes are concrete: if Attalah is convicted, the case could expose the outlet to heavy fines, closure and confiscation of equipment.