UN Human Rights Office Says on November 10 That Six Journalists, the Entire Newsroom of Egyptian Fact Checking Site Matsadaš, Have Been Detained, and Calls for Their Release
Geneva — Thameen Al-Kheetan, speaking for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in Geneva on November 10 that there were widening assaults on press freedom by Egyptian authorities.
Al-Kheetan said six journalists, forming the entire newsroom of the fact checking website Matsadaš, had been detained: Mohamed Ashraf Abu Emeira, Abdallah Qadry, Islam Barakat, Omar Helal, Mohamed Mahmoud and Mohamed Adel.
Their lawyers reported that they had been subjected to torture and other forms of ill-treatment, and forced to record fabricated confessions, he said.
Lina Attalah, chief editor of the independent online news outlet Mada Masr, also faced continuing judicial harassment related to her journalistic work, Al-Kheetan said. Convicted by an Egyptian court last month for operating an unlicensed website, Attalah had been detained and released following payment of a fine, and she faced another hearing this week in a different case dating back to 2024, which raised fresh concerns regarding due process and fair trial, including obstacles to appeal.
The High Commissioner called on Egypt to end all forms of harassment of journalists and media outlets, and to respect the right to freedom of expression, including the right to information.
The office also called on the authorities to release all Matsadaš reporters and drop charges arising from their legitimate journalistic work, and said all allegations of torture, ill-treatment or forced confessions must be promptly investigated and those responsible held to account.
The United Nations Information Service told the same briefing that on November 2, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the Secretary-General had highlighted that 34 journalists had been killed in the world this year, and that 6 out of every 7 such murders had gone unpunished.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Wikipedia/Wikimedia Commons 词条主图：Human rights
