LDSF renews its call for their immediate release and for an independent investigation into allegations of torture and ill-treatment
Today, 27 October 2026, the Supreme State Security Prosecution decided to renew the detention of six journalists from the online platform “Matsda2sh” for 15 days pending investigations.
Security authorities had arrested the platform’s entire editorial team between 28 and 30 September 2026. The campaign began with the arrest of editor-in-chief Mohamed Ashraf Abu Amira, and then extended to Abdullah Qadri, Islam Barakat, Omar Hilal, Mohamed Mahmoud, and Mohamed Adel. According to what the journalists later reported, they were held incommunicado during that period, without being allowed to contact their lawyers or families, and without any official warrants or arrest records being presented.
On 1 October, the Ministry of Interior issued a statement describing the platform as an “unlicensed page run from abroad” that spreads false information. It also linked the platform to what it called the “media committees” of the Muslim Brotherhood, without providing any public evidence to support these claims.
On 3 October, the Supreme State Security Prosecution began questioning Mohamed Ashraf Abu Amira. The questioning continued until the morning of the following day and ended with a decision to remand him in pretrial detention for 15 days pending the case. On 5 October, the other five journalists appeared before the prosecution in Case No. 8083 of 2026 (Supreme State Security), where they underwent interrogation lasting more than ten hours and faced charges of joining and financing a terrorist group and using a website to promote its ideas.
During the investigations, the journalists reported that they were held in facilities belonging to the National Security Agency, blindfolded and handcuffed, and that they were beaten, stripped of their clothes, and subjected to electric shocks, in addition to threats of harm to themselves and members of their families. They also stated that they were forced to record videotaped “confessions” whose scripts had been prepared in advance.
The defense team requested an independent investigation into these allegations, that all the journalists be referred to the Forensic Medical Authority, that any statements suspected of being extracted under coercion be excluded, and that the officers responsible for their detention be summoned for questioning. However, the prosecution referred only three of them to the Forensic Medical Authority, and the resulting reports concluded that no visible injuries or signs of violence were detected at the time of examination.
Since the first hours of the security campaign against “Matsda2sh,” Law and Democracy Support Foundation (LDSF) had joined an international appeal signed by dozens of local and international human rights organizations and media institutions, which called for the immediate release of all members of the platform’s editorial team and an end to the targeting of independent journalism in Egypt. The Foundation later also joined a joint human rights statement in which Egyptian and international organizations called for an immediate and independent investigation into the allegations of torture, enforced disappearance, and ill-treatment reported by the platform’s journalists during the investigations, for those responsible to be held accountable, and for the protection of journalists and respect for freedom of expression and journalistic work to be ensured.
LDSF renews its call for the immediate and unconditional release of the “Matsda2sh” journalists and for an end to the use of pretrial detention as a punishment against journalists because of their professional work. It also calls on the Egyptian authorities to open an independent and effective investigation into the allegations of torture, enforced disappearance, and ill-treatment raised by the journalists before the investigating authorities, to hold those responsible accountable, and to ensure respect for freedom of expression and freedom of the press in accordance with Egypt’s constitutional and international obligations.
