Terrorism charges after an overnight interrogation

Mohamed Ashraf, a reporter for the independent fact-checking and investigative platform Matsadaash, was charged by Egyptian authorities on Sunday with joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said. The charge followed the arrest of all six Matsadaash journalists by security forces over two days last week; the platform’s name literally means “don’t believe”. In a statement, authorities accused them of being unlicensed and of publishing false news on behalf of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood:

• •Abdallah Qadri
• •Mohamed Ashraf
• •Mohamed Adel
• •Islam Barakat
• •Mohamed Mahmoud
• •Omar Helal

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said the charges against Ashraf followed an interrogation running from 10pm to 8am that focused exclusively on material Matsadaash had published. Ashraf was ordered held for 15 days pending investigation; the whereabouts of the other five detained journalists were still unknown.

Co-founder denies Muslim Brotherhood links

Matsadaash co-founder Abdelrahman Mansour denied any association with the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt designated a terrorist organisation in 2013 after ousting Mohamed Morsi, a former president and senior Brotherhood figure, in a coup. He called the arrests “one of the gravest attacks on journalism in Egypt’s modern history”, saying his colleagues were asking difficult questions, uncovering facts and reporting on issues affecting people’s lives. They deserved recognition, he said; instead their homes were raided and all six were taken away. Mansour asked:

Egypt’s State Information Service did not reply to a request for comment by the time of publication.

Dozens stage sit-in at Cairo journalists’ syndicate

Dozens of journalists staged a sit-in outside the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate (EJS) in Cairo on Saturday, demanding the release of the Matsadaash staff. Syndicate members said the sit-in would remain open-ended until the journalists are released, and the EJS said it would convene an emergency meeting on Monday. The syndicate has also taken the case to the authorities and drawn wide backing:

• •The EJS filed a request with the ministry of interior and the public prosecutor seeking the journalists’ release and information on their whereabouts.
• •More than 80 rights groups condemned the arrests, among them Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists, calling them a violation of freedoms and demanding that the Matsadaash staff be freed immediately.
• •Rights groups describe the detention of the entire newsroom as part of a crackdown on press freedoms in Egypt.
• •About 26 journalists are held in Egyptian prisons, according to the syndicate.

Arrests follow US waiver on military aid

The arrests came little over a week after the US government waived human rights conditions on $320m (£242m) in military aid to Egypt, citing Cairo’s “helpful role” to US national security after the US-Iran war. Washington provides about $1.3bn annually, part contingent on human rights and democracy-related requirements; portions have been withheld several times since the 2013 coup, though funds largely kept flowing. A state department memo revealed by Reuters said this year’s waiver was total and “essential for the US-Egypt relationship and US national security priorities”.

Mansour said he did not know whether the arrests were linked to the waiver, but argued that “a willingness by other states to look the other way on Egypt’s human rights record … certainly enables violations like this to occur more easily”.

Press freedom is tightly restricted in Egypt, where platforms like Matsadaash are rare. It ranks 169th of 180 on the Reporters Without Borders press freedom index; Freedom House reports that security forces commit abuses and extrajudicial killings with impunity. Since President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi took power in the coup that ousted Morsi, civil liberties have been curbed and opposition violently crushed. The syndicate’s emergency meeting is set for Monday, and the sit-in remains open-ended until the journalists are released.