The European Union expressed this Thursday its rejection of the closure of the independent news portal Mada Masr and of the sentence imposed on its cofounder and editor-in-chief, Lina Atalá, calling on the Egyptian authorities to guarantee freedom of the press in the country. The European reaction comes after the detention at the end of September of several journalists from another newsroom, who remain in custody.
"Freedom of expression is a fundamental right for both the European Union and Egypt," the European External Action Service (EEAS) noted in a statement, in which it reminds Cairo of its international obligations regarding Human Rights and basic freedoms.
In this regard, the EU has stressed that the EU-Egypt Association Agreement and its Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership entail a "shared commitment" to the "universal values of democracy, the rule of law and respect for Human Rights and fundamental freedoms".
It has also underlined that Egypt's National Human Rights Strategy aims to foster a culture of "pluralism and diversity of opinions and viewpoints", and that Egyptian regulations themselves enshrine freedom of opinion and expression as an essential right.
"For all these reasons, the preservation and protection of independent media are essential," the EEAS emphasized, focusing on the need to safeguard freedom of the press in the North African country.
The European diplomacy thus responds to the ruling issued on 27 October by the New Cairo Misdemeanor Court, which ordered the closure and seizure of the assets of one of the few critical outlets still operating in Egypt, founded in 2013, the year of the Abdelfatá al Sisi coup d'état.
The outlet, which says it has unsuccessfully applied for a license on several occasions, has denounced on its social media that the magistrate has rejected "all procedural claims submitted by the defense, including requests to present any documentation or hear any witness".
The judicial ruling represents a hard blow to independent journalism in Egypt, where freedom of the press remains severely limited. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which has described the decision as "outrageous" and has called for its immediate annulment, places Egypt in 169th place out of 180 countries in its world press freedom ranking.