Three reporters working for an independent news outlet in Egypt and their editor will go on trial next week charged with slandering politicians from the largest pro-government party in parliament, a senior judicial official said on Thursday.
The case dates back to August last year when Mada Masr published a report by the three reporters in which it was alleged that a state inquiry into MPs from the Mostaqbal Watan party had turned up evidence of corruption and that the offenders could face expulsion from the house.
The three were released on a 20,000-pound ($666) bail in September after questioning. The site's editor, Lina Attallah, faces slander charges as well as running a news site without official permission. She was also interrogated in September and released on a 5,000-pound bail.
The three reporters, all women, face charges of disturbing the peace and hurting public interest through social media. If convicted, the reporters could face up to two years in prison as well as fines of up to 300,000 Egyptian pounds, according to an article by Mada Masr about the case.
The senior judicial official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the trial will take place in the coastal city of Mansoura north of Cairo.
Mostaqbal Watan is a staunch supporter of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and it is the largest party, with 300 of the 596 seats in parliament. It has denied the Mada Masr report and its members and supporters submitted hundreds of complaints against the reporters and the publication.
Mada Masr's website has been blocked since 2019 as part of a government crackdown on political dissent and press freedom. Its offices in Cairo were raided by police in 2019.
Its editor, Attallah, is charged with founding a website without a licence. Mada Masr says it has attempted since 2018 to obtain a licence under a new law regulating the press but has received no response to repeated inquiries.
Egyptian authorities say suppressing freedoms in the early years of Mr El Sisi's eight-year rule was necessary as the country faced a wave of terrorism after the ousting in 2013 of president Mohammed Morsi of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood.
In a significant shift in domestic policy, Mr El Sisi has eased his grip on the country, allowing a carefully-measured margin of freedoms since he called in April 2022 for a national dialogue to chart the nation's political future. The dialogue is still in the preparatory stage although officials say it could convene next month.
