It is a first in Egypt: an entire newsroom behind bars. In the early morning of 30 September, on the streets of the Egyptian capital, Cairo, police abducted two staff journalists from the independent investigative outlet Matsada2sh ("Don't Believe It"), Mohamed Mahmoud and Mohamed Adel. They were the last two members of the editorial team still at liberty after a wave of arrests that lasted 48 hours. Six members of the newsroom, all based in Egypt, are now behind bars.

The first arrests began on Monday, 28 September at 9 p.m., when police raided the home of the editor-in-chief, Mohamed Ashraf. The next day, it was journalist Abdullah Qadri's home that was targeted. Later in the day on 29 September, two of their colleagues were arrested: journalist Islam Barakat, at her home in Gharbeya Governorate, in northern Egypt, and Omar Hilal, at his home in the northern city of Port Said. The arrests were confirmed in a statement on Matsada2sh's Facebook page by three members of the outlet's administrative staff who are currently in exile.

At present, RSF has no information on where the journalists are being held, the reasons for their detention, or the official charges against them. They have not been allowed to make phone calls or receive visits from lawyers, and the Egyptian government has provided no official evidence of their arrests - a violation of the Egyptian Constitution, even though this is common practice. Journalists detained in Egypt are often forcibly disappeared for several days before being officially charged and brought before a court.

Matsada2sh: investigations that ruffle feathers

Matsada2sh, one of the region's few fact-checking platforms, was founded in 2018 to "combat the spread of false or misleading information," according to its website. The investigative outlet regularly fact-checks statements made by Egyptian officials and uncovers essential information about current political, economic and social affairs.

According to RSF information, the government has repeatedly threatened to revoke the journalists' licenses and block their websites. On 19 August 2023, journalist Karim Asaad, a former member of the newsroom, was arrested at his home and forced to delete Facebook posts he had published concerning revelations about an Egyptian private jet detained in Zambia.

An international mobilisation for the release of the journalists

On Monday, 27 September, the Egyptian Press Syndicate condemned the arrests as an attack on press freedom and, in a statement released two days later, described them as an "alarming escalation [...] targeting the independent press." A meeting with civil society representatives is scheduled for Thursday, 1 October, at the syndicate's headquarters to discuss possible legal avenues. An open letter to the Egyptian authorities, signed by RSF and 33 other organisations, is also calling for "the release of the entire newsroom of the Egyptian platform."

With these six newly detained journalists, the number of reporters detained in Egypt has now risen to 24, the highest figure in the region. On 27 September, one of these journalists, Hamdy Al-Zaeem, who has been held in pretrial detention since 2021, finally appeared before a judge. He is accused of "disseminating false information," "abusive use of social media," and "membership in a terrorist organisation." RSF has repeatedly called for his release.