(Beirut) - The New Cairo Misdemeanor Court convicted Lina Attalah , editor-in-chief of the independent news platform Mada Masr , of operating without a license in a single hearing on October 27, 2026. The court fined her 3 million Egyptian pounds (US$53,474) and ordered the website’s closure. The authorities took Attalah into custody after the hearing. Mada Masr reported that prior to ruling, the judge cleared the courtroom, rejected all procedural motions presented by Attalah’s defense team including requests to present evidence and hear from witnesses, and replaced her defense counsel against her will.

Attalah had received a summons on October 19 to appear for questioning before the Supreme State Security Prosecution and Egyptian authorities on October 22 referred her to trial on charges of establishing, managing, and operating a website without a license.

The following quote can be attributed to Bassam Khawaja , deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch:

“The summary conviction…