An Egyptian journalist has been charged with joining a terrorist group after the entire newsroom of the independent fact‑checking platform Matsadaash was detained, a move that rights groups say is part of a broader crackdown on press freedoms.
Last week security forces arrested six Matsadaash journalists—Abdallah Qadri, Mohamed Ashraf, Mohamed Adel, Islam Barakat, Mohamed Mahmoud and Omar Helal—claiming they were unlicensed and publishing false news on behalf of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Ashraf was charged on Sunday with joining a terrorist group and spreading false news following an interrogation that lasted from 10 pm to 8 am and focused exclusively on material published by the outlet. He is to be held for 15 days pending investigation, while the whereabouts of the other five journalists remain unknown.
Co‑founder Abdelrahman Mansour denied any ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and called the arrests “one of the gravest attacks on journalism in Egypt’s modern history.” He said the journalists were simply doing their jobs, asking difficult questions and uncovering facts. The Egyptian Journalists Syndicate staged a sit‑in outside its headquarters, demanding the release of the staff, and the syndicate said it would convene an emergency meeting after filing a request with the interior ministry and public prosecutor.
The arrests came a little over a week after the United States waived its human‑rights conditions on $320 million of military aid to Egypt. Mansour said the continued use of the national‑security waiver by the U.S. and other states makes violations like this easier, though he was uncertain whether the waiver was directly linked to the arrests.
Egypt ranks 169th out of 180 countries on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, and Freedom House notes that security forces routinely engage in abuses with impunity. The EJS reports that 26 journalists are currently held in Egyptian prisons.
