Egyptian authorities swept up the entire editorial team of one of the country’s few independent media, accusing them on Thursday of belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
The Associated Press reports that the arrest this week of the six journalists of Matsadaash sparked an outcry from international and regional rights groups who called it an “alarming escalation on independent media and freedom of expression.”
Authorities accused the six of producing fabricated news for an online outlet in exchange for foreign funding.
Matsadaash co-founder Abdelrahman Mansour denied the allegations and said he and their families have no idea where they are.
“Everyone on this team knew the risks when they went to work every day, but it’s unacceptable for the government to make false accusations and forcibly disappear journalists just because they’re afraid of a free press,” he said, speaking from outside Egypt.
“Their families are worried, we’re worried, we just want them released unharmed.”
Mansour said two of the outlet’s editors were arrested in 2023 but were released without charge after State Security investigators found no affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egypt is among the world’s worst jailers of journalists, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights says 26 journalists are now behind bars in Egypt.
Egypt’s Interior Ministry on Thursday described Msatsadaash as an unlicensed page managed from abroad by a “fugitive Brotherhood member” it identified as Mansour.
It said the six people detained were part of a Brotherhood “media committee” that prepared false and fabricated news for Mansour to publish. Only one of the six is a member of the Journalists’ Syndicate, the national press union, the statement said. It said legal measures have been taken but did not specify charges.
