Entire invetigative newsroom detained in Egypt with their whereabouts unknown

Egyptian security forces arrested six journalists working for the independent investigative journalism platform Matsda2sh last month, with their whereabouts unknown, Human Rights Watch said.

Security forces arrested the journalists in raids across the country. They are: Abdallah Qadry, Mohamed Ashraf Abu Emeira, Islam Barakat, Omar Helal, Mohamed Mahmoud, and Mohamed Adel. The six journalists constitute the investigative platform’s entire editorial newsroom.

“Egyptian authorities’ simultaneous arrest of the entire newsroom at a prominent independent news platform is deeply alarming,” said Bassam Khawaja, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Dismantling an entire newsroom in a matter of hours without warning or cause sends a chilling message to all journalists working in Egypt and shows just how little space is left there for critical reporting.”

Matsda2sh was established in 2018 and publishes investigations and verifies information on issues of public interest in Egypt and the wider region.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), whose lawyers represent all six journalists, said in a statement that security personnel who raided some of the journalists’ homes did not present arrest or search warrants and did not disclose the basis for their arrests or where they would be held. Security personnel also seized electronic devices belonging to the journalists and their family members. 

On October 1, Egypt’s Interior Ministry acknowledged the arrests and said the six journalists were suspected of preparing what it described as “fabricated news” for Matsda2sh and alleged that the platform is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, an international Islamic social and political movement.

The ministry did not, in its statement, identify the specific criminal charges the journalists face or disclose where they were being held. The platform has denied the allegations. 

More than 80 organizations, including Human Rights Watch, condemned the arrests and called for the release of the journalists.