UN urges Egypt to end harassment of journalists as Mada Masr editor faces court

UN rights office condemns escalating press crackdown

The UN human rights office said on 10 November 2026 that attacks on press freedom in Egypt are growing, calling the trend alarming and demanding an immediate end to persecution and harassment of independent reporters. Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, delivered the message at a briefing in Geneva and in a written statement. He said Egyptian authorities were targeting, persecuting and harassing independent journalists, and he urged Cairo to respect the right to freedom of expression, including the right to information.

“We are witnessing widening assaults on press freedom by Egyptian authorities, including the targeting, persecution and harassment of independent journalists.”

Six Matsadash journalists remain in detention

Six journalists who make up the entire editorial team of the Matsadash fact-checking website remain in detention, the UN said. Their lawyers have reported that the detainees were subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment and were forced to record fabricated confessions. Until they are freed, the UN wants them to have confidential access to lawyers, contact with their families, adequate medical care including access to medicines, and humane detention conditions. The UN also called for prompt investigation of all torture and forced confession allegations, with those responsible brought to trial. It further demanded that the authorities release all Matsadash reporters and drop charges that stem from their journalism.

Mada Masr editor faces repeated court cases

Lina Attalah, editor-in-chief of the independent outlet Mada Masr, was convicted by an Egyptian court in October 2026 for operating a website without the required licence. She was detained for several hours and released after paying a fine of three million Egyptian pounds ($53,500), and the court ordered the Mada Masr website closed. The UN said she faces constant judicial harassment linked to her journalistic work. She is due in court in the week of 10 November 2026 in another case dating back to 2024, and the UN said this raised renewed concerns about due process, fair trial guarantees and obstacles to appeals.

Context and next steps

Egypt has long faced criticism over its human rights record, and according to one account the country has for more than a decade shut down nearly all space for dissent. The UN statement focuses on the detained Matsadash team and on Attalah's legal exposure, rather than on any single new decision. The next confirmed step in the case is Attalah's court appearance in the week of 10 November 2026. The outcome of that hearing, and the fate of the six detained journalists, were not stated in the reports.