Prominent Egyptian investigative media outlet says top editor arrested
- Lina Attalah, the editor-in-chief of Mada Masr, was detained amid a nationwide crackdown on the media
A prominent investigative media outlet in Egypt said security forces detained its editor-in-chief Sunday, the latest arrest amid a wider crackdown on dissent and the media.
Mada Masr, one of a shrinking number of independent news websites in Egypt, said Lina Attalah was arrested outside Cairo’s Tora prison complex. The outlet said she was conducting an interview with Laila Soueif, the mother of jailed activist Alaa Abdel Fattah.
Attalah’s lawyer, Hassan el-Azhari, told The Associated Press his client was accused of filming a military facility without permission – likely referring to Tora prison, which is considered a military facility.
Prosecutors fined Attalah 2,000 Egyptian pounds (US$125) and ordered her release, el-Azhari said. She was returned to a police station in southern Cairo’s Maadi district to finalise the procedures. Late Sunday, Attalah was released from the police station, the outlet said.
Mada Masr had earlier tweeted that officials at the police station said Attalah would be questioned by prosecutors Monday.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi’s government has repeatedly harassed Mada Masr and its journalists. In November, security forces raided its offices, briefly detaining Attalah and two other journalists.
