After the release of a critical report on the Nation’s Future Party (Mostaqbal Watan), several Mada Masr journalists now face charges of defamation and false news. Mada Masr’s website is also accused of operating without a news license. The exposé was published on August 31 as part of Mada Masr’s Wednesday edition, and remains live on their website. It delineates the alleged corruption of several senior officials in the party, calling on their removal due to implications of malpractice. It also accuses the most prominent member, secretary-general Ashraf Rashad, of “abusing his position and increasing his personal fortune” by assisting businessmen in the development of private projects nationwide. The report allegedly relied on four anonymous sources from the party’s governing body and central secretariat, who claimed there was an ongoing “purge” of officials implicated in other abuses. The Nation’s Future Party denied the news in its entirety, citing Mada Masr as destabilizing “the security and stability of the country.” The party is, and continues to be, a dominant force in Egypt’s political landscape with close ties to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. The party pressed charges against Mada Masr Editor-in-Chief Lina…
Mada Masr Journalists Charged with Spreading “False News”: Lina Attalah, Rana Mamdouh, Sara Seif Eddin, and Beesan Kassab
September 8, 2022
