The Egyptian authorities have released the editor-in-chief of the independent outlet Mada Masr, Lina Atalá, after spending several hours detained and after the order was issued to shut down the portal, a decision that has been immediately criticized by several non-governmental organizations as yet another example of the repression against dissenting voices in the country.
Mada Masr has explained in a statement released on social media that Atalá was freed "after several hours in custody" after being convicted by a court in New Cairo for running a website without a license, a permit that the outlet has been trying to obtain for some time without success despite multiple requests.
The court also imposed a financial penalty of three million Egyptian pounds (about 48,000 euros) and decreed the closure of the portal, in addition to the seizure of all its equipment. According to the outlet, the newsroom paid the fine shortly afterward to ensure Atalá's release, to whom it was also communicated that there is an in absentia sentence of one year in prison for "publishing false news".
"Her lawyers have taken steps to appeal the ruling, with the retrial scheduled for November 11," the outlet has noted, which has denounced that the court rejected the defense's request to "review the case documents" and "present additional evidence and witnesses" so that they could be heard at the new hearing.
Likewise, it has underlined that the court "appointed an unknown party to act as defense lawyer, despite the presence of a defense lawyer appointed by her and her own objection to being represented by a court-appointed lawyer".
In this scenario, the secretary general of the International Federation of Journalists (FIP), Anthony Bellanger, has criticized these measures, including an "incredibly disproportionate" fine against Atalá, and has recalled that just a month ago the entire team of the outlet Matsada2sh was arrested.
"While the prosecution of journalists is nothing new in Egypt, the authorities are taking the situation to a new level by attacking independent media outlets," he has stated, according to a statement released by the organization.
"We urge the Egyptian authorities to drop all unfounded charges against Lina Atalá and we reiterate our request that all imprisoned journalists and media workers be released," Bellanger added, who reiterated that "no journalist should face criminal proceedings for doing their work".