Lina Atallah, editor-in-chief of Mada Misr, expressed her intention to continue the critical press in Egypt, explaining that the international support given to her organization and the press right to freedom of expression in general encouraged her to follow the course.
Mada Misr has angered the government in Egypt by highlighting, based on information apparently provided by intelligence sources, that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is planning to send his eldest son Mahmoud, a senior intelligence official, as a military envoy to Russia. His failure to control the recent protests, and that "his increasing influence on the higher levels of government decision-making has a negative impact on the image of the father."
Authorities raided the offices of Mada Masr on November 24, and arrested editor-in-chief Lina Atallah and journalists Mohamed Hamama and Rana Mamdouh after the previous day's arrest of journalist Shadi Zalat from his home without giving a reason. All were subsequently released.
Runner told reporters
In an interview with Al-Monitor, a Washington-based Middle East website, Lina said: "The press is becoming more dangerous, and hostility to journalists is on the rise." We are shocked, and we are still shocked by what happened. The environment".
"We hope that none of us will back down, lest anybody understand that they should stop when they feel insecure," said Lena, apparently undeterred.
Lina and her staff, although they expected the authorities to attack, were terrified when nine security officers in civilian clothes got into them, she said. "When we asked them about their identity, they refused to respond and were angry. It was scary."
Lina described how they crammed them into one room and directed them to the wall, and how they distorted them and took information from their phones before returning to the newsroom. I also talked about interrogation for three hours, before they went with the pigeon and Mamdouh.
The prosecutor's office said in a statement that it had issued a search warrant against Mada Misr after submitting a memo by security authorities that the banned Muslim Brotherhood had created the website to spread false news and rumors to create public unrest.
Mada Misr was founded by a group of Egyptian journalists who worked for the English-language Gazette. Al-Monitor describes itself as self-financing through journalistic activities, including training for journalists, editorial services and marketing.
Two days after the police raid, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on Sisi's government to respect press freedom, and French and German officials condemned the incident. An Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman responded that Mada Masr was operating without permission and denied the raid was "against freedom of expression." .
"We were happy with the international reaction that helped us calm down and feel protected," said Lena.