00:00Egypt on Tuesday rejected accusations that detained journalists from an independent fact-checking platform were tortured or mistreated, referring to
00:09the allegations as baseless.
00:11In a statement, the Interior Ministry described the accusations as, quote, an attempt by those concerned to evade the charges
00:18attributed to them.
00:20It comes after lawyers, representing the six journalists arrested last week, said they had reported abuse during their time in
00:27detention.
00:29According to the lawyers, most of the journalists said they had suffered different forms of torture, including beatings, false stripping
00:35and threats against them and their families.
00:39The journalists worked for Mastardash, a fact-checking platform which often scrutinises statements from government officials and state institutions.
00:48Dozens of organisations, including Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders, have denounced the arrests and urged the journalists' immediate
00:55release.
00:58A Mastardash could also be forced to tryام handouts thatbraryser the沒有 vigils throat.
00:58.
