Lina Attalah is an Egyptian journalist, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Mada Masr, an independent news outlet whose website has been blocked in Egypt since 2017. She has faced repeated arrests, interrogations and judicial harassment in connection with her journalistic work. On 24 November 2019, security forces raided Mada Masr’s Cairo office and detained Attalah and two colleagues for several hours. On 17 May 2020, she was arrested outside Tora Prison while interviewing Laila Soueif, the mother of then-imprisoned activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah, and released on bail later that day. In September 2022, prosecutors questioned her and three colleagues over Mada Masr’s reporting, with Attalah also facing a charge of operating a website without a licence. On 19 October 2026, she was summoned by the Supreme State Security Prosecution and questioned two days later about the outlet’s coverage of prison protests and its licensing status. She was released on bail and referred to trial. On 27 October 2026, the New Cairo Misdemeanour Court convicted her of managing an unlicensed website, fined her three million Egyptian pounds and ordered Mada Masr’s website closed and its devices and equipment confiscated. According to a joint statement by 130 organisations, the trial was marked by serious violations of her right to a fair trial, as the defence was denied sufficient time to review the case file and prevented from presenting key procedural requests.