October 27, 2026 — Civitella stands with human rights and press freedom organizations around the globe in support of Lina Attalah (CRF 2026), co-founder and editor-in-chief of the independent Egyptian news outlet Mada Masr. Attalah was detained today, after being convicted of operating an unlicensed website. We call for her immediate release.
As Amnesty International states,
“This draconian ruling is the culmination of years of relentless harassment and unjust proceedings designed to shut down one of the country’s last remaining independent media voices. Lina Atallah should never have been prosecuted for exercising her right to freedom of expression and doing her journalistic job. The Egyptian authorities must immediately overturn this outrageous verdict, halt the forced closure of Mada Masr, and end the systematic persecution of journalists.”
Democracy Now reports more on the situation here.