Egypt arrested six journalists from the editorial team of the “Mtsaddakish” news platform

The Egyptian authorities arrested six journalists, the entire editorial team of the “Mtsadeqesh” news platform known for criticizing the government, according to what the platform announced and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights confirmed on Wednesday (September 30, 2026).

The platform announced via Facebook and

The Egyptian Initiative, a non-governmental organization, condemned "the security campaign on the 'Mtsadeqesh' news platform that was launched on Monday evening... to include six journalists so far, all members of the platform's team," while their whereabouts remain unknown.

According to the Egyptian Initiative, four journalists were arrested from their homes in Cairo, Gharbia, and Port Said governorates, while two others were arrested “from a street in Cairo.”

The platform defines itself as “an independent platform specialized in verifying Egyptian and Arabic content and producing open source reports and investigations” and has more than a million followers on Facebook.

“Mtsaddiksh” said in its statement that “all detained journalists... practice their work in an open manner and have very distinguished professional paths in well-known Egyptian journalistic and media institutions,” stressing that the platform “is based on preparing journalistic materials, verifying information, and publishing it in accordance with professional principles.”

“Mtsaddiksh” has been working on verifying and auditing news since 2018, and among its most recent publications is an examination of media statements by the Egyptian Foreign Minister about the number of refugees in Egypt and others that point to the spread of favoritism in the process of appointing public prosecutors.

Human rights criticism of Cairo

Cairo faces local and international criticism against the backdrop of violations of human rights and freedom of expression, and the continued pretrial detention of defendants despite the expiration of legal periods. According to the Egyptian Initiative, the number of journalists arrested for performing their work in Egypt reached 26 journalists.

Recently, a massive campaign included the imprisonment of Discord users, online content creators, comedians, and commentators.

Human rights organizations say that Egypt is detaining large numbers of dissidents and prisoners of conscience, which the authorities deny, stressing that they are being detained for criminal reasons.

On Wednesday, the Egyptian Parliament approved postponing the entry into force of the new Criminal Procedure Law until October 2027, which included articles limiting the continuation of pretrial detention for long periods, although it sparked local and international controversy over articles related to the fairness of criminal procedures and human rights.

Edited by: Arif Jabo