A new protest is being organized by journalists in Cairo this weekend following the detention of six colleagues who face terrorism-related charges. The detainees, all staff members of the independent investigative and factchecking platform Matsadaash, were taken into custody by plainclothes officers from their homes and public streets last week. Authorities have accused the group of operating without a license and producing false news for the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
Abdallah Qadri, Mohamed Ashraf Abu Emeira, Mohamed Adel, Islam Barakat, Mohamed Mahmoud, and Omar Helal are currently being held. While one journalist was charged on Sunday, the remaining five were charged on Wednesday night. According to legal representatives, all six have reported being subjected to severe mistreatment, including being blindfolded, handcuffed, forcibly stripped, beaten, and threatened with harm to their families. Some also alleged they were subjected to electric shocks and forced to read scripted confessions during filmed, multi-take production sessions. According to lobna Darwish, of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), whose lawyers are representing the six from Matsadaash,, The journalists “had told prosecutors that they were blindfolded and handcuffed for days, beaten and forcibly stripped”. Darwish added that they were forced to read purported confessions from sheets of paper in filmed sessions involving “repeated takes” in front of what she described as “professional filming crews”.
Hadeer El-Mahdawy, a member of the protest’s organizing committee, expressed deep concern, stating: “We were horrified by the news of the torture of our six colleagues.” She emphasized the necessity of the upcoming demonstration to protect the integrity of the profession and defend those currently in detention. “We are at a very difficult moment on every level,” she added, noting that the community must use every available tool to advocate for their peers.
In response to these allegations, the interior ministry has rejected claims of torture or ill-treatment, characterizing them as baseless attempts by the detainees to evade accusations of their ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. The public prosecution also issued a statement on Wednesday evening claiming that three of the detained journalists underwent forensic examinations, which reportedly found no signs of violence or injury.
The crackdown extends beyond those currently detained. Rasha Azab, another journalist, was questioned by the supreme state security prosecution regarding a social media post that criticized the interior ministry. Though she was released on bail, Azab faces charges related to promoting terrorist ideas. Her lawyer, Mahienour El-Masry, noted that prosecutors presented her with 11 identical complaints originating from various governorates. Observers view these developments as part of a broader escalation against independent media in Egypt, a sector already struggling with precarious employment and low wages.
