Masr al-Arabia journalists say raid on its offices prompted by decision to run New York Times piece on alleged election irregularities

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Egyptian police have raided the office of a news website and arrested its editor-in-chief as part of a wider crack down on media that reported allegations of vote buying during last month’s presidential election.

The raid late on Tuesday came two days after the supreme council for media regulation, an official oversight body, told the Masr al-Arabia website to pay 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,849) as a fine for republishing a New York Times article on alleged irregularities during the presidential election. The website is one of over 500to have been blocked within Egypt since May 2017.

Two journalists at the website quoted the site’s lawyers as saying that police said they had acted because the website did not have a permit to operate. The journalists said the raid was prompted by the republishing of the New York Times article.

A statement from the council, which was based on a complaint from the national election authority, on Sunday had accused the website of publishing false news.

“The website should have checked the authenticity of the news or commented on it with an opinion,” the council statement said, referring to the New York Times article, which said some voters were offered payments and other inducements to vote.



The New York Times defended its reporting. “We stand by the accuracy of our reporting and strongly condemn any arrests meant to intimidate journalists and stifle freedom of the press,” Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokeswoman said.

Adel Sabry, the website’s editor-in-chief, was arrested and was still being held at Dokki police station in greater Cairo on Wednesday.

A security source at the police station said Sabry was being held prior to appearing before a prosecutor. Sabry is accused of running a news website without a permit, the source added.

The office of the website was closed and sealed with red wax, the three journalists said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Abdel Fatah al-Sisi won the Egyptian presidential election with 97% of the vote. Photograph: Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images

The Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, swept to a second term with 97% of the vote. His win came after five opposition candidates were prevented from getting on the ballot.

The editor-in-chief of private newspaper Al Masry Al Youm was recently fined 150,000 Egyptian pounds and forced to apologise for the headline of an article published on its front page detailing official offers of financial incentives to voters, and threats of fines for those who did not get to the ballot box.

Sisi wins landslide victory in Egypt election Read more

Some voters have said they were offered incentives to cast their ballots, including money and food, local and international media reported, without saying who had made the offers. Officials said that if any such incidents took place they were not state sponsored and had been extremely limited.

Authorities say curbing fictitious news is necessary for national security.



Officials at the state information service previously declared they would summon international journalists who published election coverage “written in a non-professional manner”.



Sherif Mansour, of the Committee to Protect Journalists, described continued efforts to crack down on the press as “a witch-hunt”.

“The authorities have also continued to blur the red lines journalists have known for years under Sisi,” he said.

“This doesn’t bode well for the post-election era, as many thought those censorship measures were enacted temporarily to secure Sisi’s second term. But it seems like they’re here to stay and more are coming.”

</s>Egyptian police raided the office of a news website late on Tuesday and arrested its editor-in-chief, according to three of its journalists, including its managing editor. The raid came two days after the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, an official oversight body, told the website, Masr al-Arabia, to pay 50,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,849) as a fine for republishing a New York Times article on alleged irregularities during last week’s presidential election.

Two journalists at the website quoted the site’s lawyers as saying that police said they had acted because the website did not have a permit to operate. The journalists said the raid was prompted by the republishing of the New York Times article. A statement from the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, which was based on a complaint from the national election authority, on Sunday accused the website of publishing false news. “The website should have checked the authenticity of the news or commented on it with an opinion,” the Council statement said, referring to the New York Times article, which said some voters were offered payments and other inducements to vote.

The New York Times defended its reporting. “We stand by the accuracy of our reporting and strongly condemn any arrests meant to intimidate journalists and stifle freedom of the press,” Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokeswoman for the New York Times Co, said in an emailed statement. Adel Sabry, the website’s editor-in-chief, was arrested and is being held at Dokki police station in greater Cairo, Mohamed Mounir, Masr al-Arabia’s managing editor, told Reuters.

A security source at the police station said Sabry was being held prior to appearing before a prosecutor. Sabry is accused of running a news website without a permit, the source added. The office of the website was closed and “sealed with red wax”, the three journalists said. Masr al-Arabia is one of about 500 websites that in recent months have been blocked in Egypt, although some are still accessible through virtual networks. Rights groups say the closures amount to a crackdown against freedom of expression.

Authorities say curbing fictitious news is necessary for national security. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi won a second term with 97 percent of the votes on a turnout of 41 percent, official results showed on Monday. Some voters have said they were offered incentives to cast their ballots including money and food, local and international media reported, without saying who had made the offers. Officials said that if any such incidents took place they were not state-sponsored and extremely limited.

For all the latest World News, download Indian Express App</s>Egyptian journalists have spoken out in support of a detained news website editor, saying state authorities targeted him over the outlet’s coverage of the country’s recent presidential elections.

Police in Cairo on Tuesday raided the office of the Masr al-Arabia news website and arrested its editor-in-chief, Adil Sabry.

He has since been held at Dokki police station, Mohamed Mounir, Masr al-Arabia’s managing editor, told Reuters news agency.

According to Masr al-Arabia, Sabry has been charged with operating a website without a local license.

The raid came two days after the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, an official oversight body, told the website to pay a $2,849 fine for republishing a New York Times article on alleged irregularities during last week’s vote.

Fellow journalists said they believe Sabry was targeted for the website’s coverage of the Egyptian elections and its criticism of state authorities.

“Masr al-Arabia’s editor-in-chief was arrested because the website is one of few independent news outlets in Egypt,” Kotb al-Arabi, an Egyptian journalist and media analyst, told Al Jazeera.

“Sabry was detained because the website’s coverage of the elections was critical and didn’t toe the official narrative,” he added.

The New York Times defended its reporting. “We stand by the accuracy of our reporting and strongly condemn any arrests meant to intimidate journalists and stifle freedom of the press,” said spokeswoman Danielle Rhoades Ha.

A member of staff at Masr al-Arabia, who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons, told Al Jazeera that the news website was targeted because it had not “submitted to the regime”.

“The government wants no one but hypocrites. [Sabry was detained] because the website includes different voices and points of view … in addition to siding with the 25th of January Revolution,” the member of staff added, referring to the uprising that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule.

According to an account published on the website, security agents in civilian clothes entered the offices of Masr al-Arabia at 3:30pm local time and ordered journalists to turn over their computers. Staff members refused to hand over their devices without logging out of their emails, the outlet said.

Masr al-Arabia is one of about 500 websites that have been blocked in Egypt in recent months, although some are still accessible through virtual private networks. Rights groups say the closures amount to a crackdown against freedom of expression.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a United States-based watchdog, condemned Egypt for the crackdown on media outlets in the run-up to the elections.

“Egyptian authorities must stop intimidating and punishing journalists who have simply done their jobs,” its Middle East and North Africa coordinator Sherif Mansour said in a statement last week.

President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi, who ran virtually unopposed, secured a second term by winning 97 percent of the vote, according to official results.

The news of Sabry’s detention came after the arrest and deportation from Egypt late last month of Bel Trew, a British reporter with the Times of London.

The newspaper has since denounced “the oppressive environment” for journalists created in the country by authorities before a presidential election.

According to Egyptian journalists, the crackdown on journalists in Egypt is likely to continue even after the completion of the elections.

“Sabry’s arrest is the latest in a series of measures taken [by the state] to stifle dissent as part of a widening crackdown on the media in Egypt,” said an Egyptian journalist, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of repercussions.

“It is an indication that the freedom of speech and the crackdown on journalists in Egypt will not east after the elections,” added the journalist, who is also a member of the Egyptian Journalists’ Syndicate.

The CPJ dubs Egypt “one of the world’s biggest prisons for journalists”.

With at least 20 journalists behind bars in relation to their work, Egypt is among the world’s top three jailers of journalists.

Reporters Without Borders ranks the country 161st out of 180 countries in its press freedom index.</s>CAIRO (Reuters) - An Egyptian prosecutor ordered on Thursday that a news website’s editor-in-chief be detained for 15 days pending investigations, judicial sources and one of his lawyers said.

Adel Sabry, editor-in-chief of Masr al-Arabia, was arrested on Tuesday after its office was raided by police who told its lawyers the website did not have a permit to operate. The office of the website was shut down on the same day.

Based on police investigations since Tuesday, a prosecutor in Cairo’s Dokki district accused Sabry of belonging to a terrorist group, publishing false news, using text and visuals that contradict the constitution, and inciting demonstrations, said Eman Hamed, the defendant’s lawyer.

Police and prosecutors could not immediately be reached for comment.

Sabry denied the accusations, Hamed told Reuters. Hamed said the defence team had presented to the prosecution documents that proved the website has the necessary permits to operate.

The editor-in-chief’s arrest came two days after the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, an official oversight body, told the Masr al-Arabia website to pay about $2,800 as a fine for republishing a New York Times article on alleged irregularities during last week’s presidential election.

The New York Times defended its reporting. “We stand by the accuracy of our reporting and strongly condemn any arrests meant to intimidate journalists and stifle freedom of the press,” Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokeswoman for the New York Times Co, said on Tuesday.

Masr al-Arabia is one of about 500 websites that in recent months have been blocked in Egypt, although some are still accessible through virtual networks. Rights groups say the closures amount to a crackdown on freedom of expression.

Authorities say curbing fictitious news is necessary for national security.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi won a second term with 97 percent of the votes on a turnout of 41 percent, official results showed on Monday.
Egyptian news site Masr al-Arabia says its offices were raided and a journalist arrested in response to the republication of an article by The New York Times alleging irregularities in the nation's recent Presidential election.