00:00I'm joined now by Lina Atala, the award-winning journalist and editor-in-chief of the independent online magazine Mara
00:08Masa that was shut down by Egypt's authorities.
00:12Lina, why is the Egyptian government tightening the screws on independent media right now?
00:22In the last period, the Egyptian authorities have not denied that there was more and more expressed impatience towards the
00:31work of independent media and that while the government is making a lot of efforts to deal with a lot
00:38of political and economic challenges, especially with the surrounding regional conflicts and the economic challenges that we're facing,
00:48the main issue is really independent media, basically not helping the government with all these efforts.
00:54We've been hearing these statements and then the days after we, you know, there's a court case against us, there's
01:05another entire newsroom that's been arrested.
01:08The six journalists of this newsroom remain in jail today.
01:13So, there seems to be, this seems to be a moment where independent media is not going to be tolerated.
01:21So, your case is not isolated.
01:24Do you see that there is a coordinated attempt to silence independent journalism in Egypt?
01:33I think there is an expressed lack of patience towards the few of us that are still there.
01:40And I don't see the fact that the newsroom of Metzadash, the fact-checking platform whose six young journalists have
01:48been in jail and then the court case ordering the closure of Madame Ossou followed by another court case threatening
01:54me with a jail sentence.
01:56So, I don't see these things as disconnected.
01:59Now, Egyptian authorities often justify these measures as a fight against misinformation or disinformation.
02:06What is your response to that argument?
02:10My response is that, in fact, by removing our websites and our media and our reporting from the public sphere
02:22is what exactly will create ample space for disinformation and speculation and rumors.
02:29We are some of the very few newsrooms that have been providing Egyptians and people who care about Egypt and
02:38the region with rigorous reporting about a variety of issues, reporting that is centered and rooted in the facts and
02:46the analysis of the facts.
02:48By removing that space of intelligence that aims at reaching out and extending itself to the people, you leave the
02:58people actually to the whims of, you know, the unregulated internet space that's full of disinformation and fake news and
03:06whatnot.
03:07So, it's actually the opposite.
03:08I think what's happening is threatening in that regards.
03:14Now, the UN Rights Office said today, a spokesman, that these alarming developments must end immediately.
03:20Is anyone in the Egyptian government listening to the UN?
03:27I hope there is enough wisdom to instruct that these spaces are not a source of threat.
03:43In fact, our spaces are a stabilizing factor for society with the sound information we've been providing.
03:51And that it takes reason and wisdom to realize that our place is not in the courtrooms and in prisons,
03:59but rather in our newsrooms.
04:01Now, you mentioned this.
04:03You have also personally been handed a one-year prison sentence in absentia.
04:08What are the charges against you and what do you say to them?
04:13The charges are, again, publishing false news.
04:18And this is a typical charge that a lot of journalists, and not only journalists, but people expressing their opinions
04:25even on social media are facing when whatever is being published is not in line with the mainstream narrative.
04:37To that, I say that, A, I hold on to my constitutional right to not be jailed for my journalism.
04:48And, B, the journalism we do is actually everything, again, that stands against false news.
04:57Madame Osset has had a legacy for the past 13 years and more of informing Egyptians with strong, rigorous reporting
05:06about different things.
05:11So, yeah, it cannot be a charge that we are being faced with now.
05:18The journalist, Lina Attala, editor-in-chief of the online magazine Mada Masa that was shut down by Egypt's authorities.
05:26Many thanks and good luck to you.
