Key facts
- Egyptian authorities charged journalist Mohamed Ashraf with joining a terrorist group and spreading false news.
- Ashraf and five colleagues from the platform Matsadaash were detained.
- The charges against Ashraf followed an interrogation lasting 10 hours.
- Ashraf was ordered to be held for 15 days pending investigation.
- The co-founder of Matsadaash denied any association with the Muslim Brotherhood.
- Over 80 rights groups condemned the arrests as a violation of freedoms.
Egyptian authorities have charged journalist Mohamed Ashraf with joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, days after he and five colleagues from the independent fact-checking platform Matsadaash were detained. The arrests have been decried by rights groups as a severe crackdown on press freedoms.
Last week, security forces arrested six journalists from Matsadaash over two days. The outlet, whose name translates to "don't believe," is known for its investigative work. Authorities accused the journalists of being unlicensed and publishing false news on behalf of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.
According to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Ashraf's charges came after an interrogation that lasted from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. and focused on material published by Matsadaash. He was ordered to be held for 15 days pending investigation, while the whereabouts of the other five journalists remained unknown.
Abdelrahman Mansour, co-founder of Matsadaash, denied any association with the Muslim Brotherhood, a group designated as terrorist by Egypt in 2013. Mansour called the arrests "one of the gravest attacks on journalism in Egypt's modern history," questioning the government's actions against journalists for doing their jobs.
Dozens of journalists staged a sit-in outside the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate (EJS) in Cairo on Saturday, demanding the release of their colleagues. The EJS stated it would keep the sit-in open-ended and convene an emergency meeting. The syndicate had also filed a request with the ministry of interior and public prosecutor for information on the journalists' whereabouts and their release.
More than 80 rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists, condemned the arrests as a violation of freedoms and demanded the immediate release of the Matsadaash staff.
The arrests occurred shortly after the U.S. government waived human rights conditions on $320 million in military aid to Egypt, citing Cairo's "helpful role" to U.S. national security. While unsure if the arrests were directly linked to the waiver, Mansour suggested that such waivers and other nations overlooking Egypt's human rights record "certainly enables violations like this to occur more easily."
Egypt has faced long-standing criticism for human rights abuses, with security forces reportedly acting with impunity. Since President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi took power, civil liberties have been curtailed and domestic opposition suppressed. Egypt ranks 169th out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders' Press Freedom Index, with independent platforms like Matsadaash being rare.