Egypt: Mada Masr Journalists Targeted By Egypt’s Ruling Party Repression
Location: Egypt, CairoDate: September 5, 2022
Egypt’s leading Nation’s Future Party members launched a purge against three women journalists Rana Mamdouh, Beesan Kassab and Sara Seif Eddin working at Mada Masr, an independent Egypt online newspaper. Journalists received legal complaints from Nation’s Future Party members, in an effort to censor press and control the narrative. State-controlled media in Egypt are used to launch and then amplify smear campaigns against journalists critical of the government. Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) condemns wrongful charges against Mada Masr’s journalists and demands a reversal.
Nation’s Future Party members have leveled charges at Rana, Beesan and Sara since their names were recorded as contributors to the August 31 edition of Mada Masr’s Arabic language news bulletin, who monitored gross financial misconduct and implicated leading members of the party to withdraw from their official roles due to allegation of corruption and abuse of office.
Nation’s Future Party accused Mada Masr for publishing false news and intends to pursue legal action against some of the editorial and reporting staff. According to sources within the party, the complaints will be addressed to the website's editor-in-chief and three of its journalists who violated articles of the law regulating the press. The party said it would take legal action against journalists and editors at Mada Mars, disputing the claims that politicians are involved in corruption and pointing out that these are fake news and should be pursued by the prosecutor.
Mada Masr’s defense team affirmed the integrity of its reporting and its commitment to professional journalistic standards, adding that they are working in some of the hardest conditions possible. Mada Masr’s defense team reviewed the texts of the complaints that were filed and found that they all use identical terminology, accusing journalists Rana Mamdouh, Beesan Kassab and Sara Seif Eddin of spreading false news, among other charges.
Mada Masr’s team intends to petition the public prosecutor to merge the complaints into one investigation in order to avoid parallel proceedings, aiming at increasing pressure and obliging the subjects to appear before different prosecutors. They also claimed to submit a memorandum to Journalists Syndicate requesting the presence of a legal representative during interrogation.
The state of media and journalism in Egypt has deteriorated and witnessed some of the most severe restrictions on the media. Political threats are entailing a continuation of repression to which Egypt’ journalists are exposed. Several online newspapers and magazines have been recently targeted for criticizing the government, showing an unprecedented crackdown on freedom of expression, involving direct state censorship and control over journalists and editors. Coalition For Women In Journalism urges Egypt authorities to let journalists do their investigative work and not be prosecuted regarding their reporting on sensitive political and economic issues.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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