Arbitrary Conviction of “Mada Masr”: Fining Lina Atta Allah 3 Million Egyptian Pounds and Shutting Down the Website Amid Serious Violations of Fair Trial Guarantees

🔴 Arbitrary Conviction of “Mada Masr”: Fining Lina Atta Allah 3 Million Egyptian Pounds and Shutting Down the Website Amid Serious Violations of Fair Trial Guarantees

In a flagrant violation of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and to a fair trial, the Cairo New City Misdemeanours Court, on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, ordered the sentencing of journalist “Lina Atta Allah,” editor-in-chief of the “Mada Masr” website, to pay a fine of 3 million Egyptian pounds, along with an order to shut down the website and confiscate its equipment, on the claim that it was being run without a license.

📌 Serious Legal Violations and Abuses of the Right to a Fair Trial:

Denial of Access for the Defence: The session was marred by blatant legal violations, represented by depriving the defence team of its inherent right to review the case papers and prepare an equivalent defence.

Rejection of Substantive Motions: The court deliberately refused to respond to the defence’s substantive requests, in addition to overriding the legal will of the accused by rejecting her refusal of an assigned lawyer, despite the presence of eight original lawyers.

Arbitrary Detention: These void procedures were compounded by the detention of colleague Lina Atta Allah following the issuance of the verdict, signalling an imminent danger to her personal safety and constituting arbitrary detention that violates international and constitutional standards.

⚖️ Demands of the Al-Shehab Human Rights Center:

Immediate Release: Release journalist Lina Atta Allah immediately and without conditions, and halt any measures that would negatively affect her liberty linked to her journalistic work.

Stay of Execution of the Verdict and Ancillary Penalties: Urgent appeal against the verdict to suspend its execution, including the annulment of the exorbitant fine, and the cancellation of the decision to shut down the website and confiscate the equipment, as these are arbitrary measures that undermine press freedom.

Respect for Fair Trial Guarantees: Nullify any legal effect of the void procedures that tainted the session, and ensure the accused’s right to retain her original defence and enable it to obtain full access to the case file.

Protect Press Freedom: Cease using legislation and decisions as tools to pressure independent platforms, and stop criminalising journalistic work under the pretext of “operating a platform without a license.”

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