A criminal court in Cairo has postponed the retrial of prominent Egyptian journalist Lina Attalah, whose case has drawn international condemnation. Wednesday’s initial hearing was postponed until Nov. 18 after defense lawyers representing the editor-in-chief of news outlet Mada Masr asked for a new judge. Their goal was to “send a chilling message” to “the few remaining newsrooms.” He warned: “Everyone should be careful, everyone should be afraid, everyone should wonder if they will be next.” Created 13 years ago, Mada Masr became Egypt’s leading independent news site, with Attalah as editor-in-chief and co-founder. obtain. He was fined a hefty 3 million Egyptian pounds ($56,000; £42,000) and Mada Masr was ordered to close. After that trial, Attalah discovered that a court had previously imposed a one-year prison sentence on him, without his knowledge, for “spreading false news” – a charge often used against journalists and dissidents – as well as operating a website without a license. It was issued in absentia in 2024, even though she was in the country at the time. Attalah is now being retried in that case by the same judge. In the opening session, Attalah’s defense requested the judge’s recusal, arguing that “he had already formed a sentence in mind against the accused,” Mada Masr said, quoting his outside lawyer Hassan al-Azhar. The judge went into recess before adjourning proceedings for a week to allow the court to consider the defense request, he added. Mada Masr also said Attalah’s appeal against last month’s conviction was scheduled for November 25. Egypt has largely repressed press freedom, ranking 169th out of 180 countries for press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders’ 2026 analysis. The group says at least 26 journalists who were arrested in recent years remain detained. While most newspapers and television stations now toe government lines, Mada Masr remained a rare, independent, investigative news source in Egypt. However, since 2017 the site could only be seen from outside the country. It had reported on alleged corruption and human rights abuses, and provided in-depth coverage of politics and the economy, as well as regional unrest and wars in Libya, Sudan and Gaza. In his interview with the BBC on Sunday, Attalah insisted that Mada Masr’s objective reporting and professional standards had an important role to play in Egyptian society, which could benefit the government. “It’s much better if you have some space left to have it open for ‘People need to know, people need to consume information, and you’re shooting yourself in the foot by killing newsrooms that do it properly.'” In September, six journalists from the independent fact-checking platform Matsda2sh, which makes up its entire newsroom, were arrested in house raids by Egyptian authorities and held incommunicado for almost a week.
