Investigative journalist Mamdouh has been working with Mada Masr since 2018 and is a member of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate (EJS). She was previously detained in 2019, together with two other journalists from the same outlet, following a raid in Mada Masr’s office. They were all released within hours.
According to Mamdouh’s lawyer, Hassan al-Azhari, the Supreme State Security Prosecution interrogated Mamdouh in relation to charges of incitement to commit a terrorist act or crime. The lawyer only learned the case details and the charges from the lawyer appointed by the prosecution.
The news outlet denounced in a press release published on 10 March the continuous “intransigence from authorities that complicates its editorial commitments to reporting accurately and with journalistic integrity on Egypt’s political and economic landscape.”
The EJS published its annual Press Freedom report last week after it was halted for almost eight years. The Syndicate expresses cautious optimism regarding the situation of press freedom, as no journalists have been jailed during the last year, seven journalists have been released and the prospects of 21 jailed journalists being released appear good.
The EJS said “The arrest of our colleagues represents a significant backslide in the state of press freedom in Egypt and we call on the Egyptian authorities to drop all charges against Rana Mamdouh and to stop using unjustified tactics to harras Egyptian media organisations.”
IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger commented: “The case of journalist Rana Mamdouh highlights the fragility of press freedom in Egypt and the regular attempts to try and intimidate our colleagues for reporting the truth. We call for all charges against her to be dropped and for the 21 journalists still detained to be released immediately. Freedom of the press is not a choice, it is a right that must be guaranteed at all costs."
