Egypt arrests entire media editorial team over Muslim Brotherhood accusations

Egyptian authorities swept up the entire editorial team of one of the country’s few independent media outlets, accusing them on Thursday of belonging to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.The arrest this week of the six journalists of Matsadaash (Arabic for “Don’t Believe”) sparked an outcry from international and regional rights groups who called it an “alarming escalation on independent media and freedom of expression.”Authorities accused the six of being members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, alleging they produced fabricated news for an online outlet in exchange for foreign funding.Matsadaash co-founder Abdelrahman Mansour denied the allegations and said he and their families have no idea where they are.““Everyone on this team knew the risks when they went to work every day, but it’s unacceptable for the government to make false accusations and forcibly disappear journalists just because they’re afraid of a free press,” he said, speaking from outside Egypt.“Their families are worried, we’re worried, we just want them released unharmed.”Founded eight years ago as a fact-checking platform, it has since expanded into investigative reporting in Egypt and other Arab countries.Mansour said two of the outlet’s editors were arrested in 2023 but were released without charge after State Security investigators found no affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood.“It’s very difficult for us to understand why this is happening,” he said.Egypt is among the world’s worst jailers of journalists, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists.The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights says 26 journalists are now behind bars in Egypt.Egypt’s Interior Ministry on Thursday described Matsadaash as an unlicensed page managed from abroad by a “fugitive Brotherhood member” it identified as Mansour.It said the six people detained were part of a Brotherhood “media committee” that prepared false and fabricated news for Mansour to...