An Egyptian court has ordered the closure of Mada Masr , one of the country’s leading independent news sites, sentencing its editor-in-chief to the maximum financial penalty and taking her into custody.

The ruling, handed down on Tuesday by the New Cairo Misdemeanours Court, convicted Lina Attalah of managing an unlicensed website, imposing a fine of three million Egyptian pounds (£48,000), ordering the shutdown of the platform, and demanding the confiscation of its assets and property.

Ms Attalah was immediately detained in the courtroom pending payment of the fine, marking an unprecedented legal blow to critical reporting under president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi .

Egyptian authorities claims ​the state is committed to upholding freedom of expression but that the media must operate within the law, respect national security and counter misinformation.

Mada Masr, which publishes in English and Arabic, has operated for more than a decade in the country.…