The Tunisian judiciary issued a ruling not to hear the lawsuit to dissolve the Al-Khatt Association, which runs the independent investigative website “Inkfada,” after the Prime Minister withdrew from the request for dissolution, according to what the association and its lawyer announced on Wednesday.
The association’s lawyer, Ayoub Al-Ghalousi, told Agence France-Presse that “the court of first instance decided to stop the prosecution, and the person requesting the dissolution of the association retracted his request,” without providing additional details.
For his part, Malek Al-Khadrawi, co-founder and member of the “Al-Khatt” Association office, said: “It is a feeling of relief, but it is not the end. For months, we were forced to defend our right to exist instead of doing our work.” Al-Khadrawi, who is also an official at the site, explained that the court rejected the request to dissolve the association: “But part of our funds are still frozen without any explanation. However, we will continue to fight through legal channels to recover the resources that allow us to continue our work.”
The “Al-Khat” Association was founded in 2013, and launched the “Inkifada” investigative website in 2014. It was being tried on charges of “not respecting some financial laws.” The Presidency of the Government did not reveal the reasons for requesting the dissolution of the association or its withdrawal from it.
The association considers its request to dissolve as part of the “administrative, banking, and judicial pressures” it has been exposed to for more than two years, which included freezing some of its funding, administrative inspections, and suspending its activities in October 2025.
Tunisian and international human rights organizations denounce the decline in freedoms since President Kais Saied decided to monopolize powers in July 2021.
On Wednesday, the Egyptian Public Prosecution accused the journalists of the “Mtsadeqsh” electronic platform of being affiliated with the media committee of the “Brotherhood” group, which is classified as “terrorist,” and ordered six of them to be detained pending investigations.
On September 28 and 29, security forces arrested six journalists from the “Mtsadeqesh” platform, which is responsible for verifying data and news sources. The platform said at the time that journalists “represent the entire editorial team in the newsroom.”
The Ministry of the Interior stated at the time that “its investigations found that the platform is among the media committees affiliated with the terrorist (Brotherhood) group, and is run by a fugitive Brotherhood member abroad called Abdul Rahman Mansour, and is assisted inside the country by a number of Brotherhood members who are responsible for preparing false and fabricated news.”
The Public Prosecution said in a statement, on Wednesday, that “investigations reported that leaders of the (Brotherhood) group fleeing outside the country issued assignments to a number of its cadres to create and manage pages and electronic platforms, with the aim of spreading rumours, false news and data and questioning the performance of state institutions and officials, which contributes - according to the investigations - to pushing citizens to demonstrate and gather.”
The prosecution accused the platform of being “one of the group’s media platforms, and is managed from outside the country with the participation of a number of its members at home, including one of those registered with the Journalists Syndicate.”
According to the statement, one of the defendants admitted during the investigations “that he, the arrested defendants, and others joined the media committee of the Brotherhood, working on the page in question, which is responsible for one of the members of the group who fled outside the country, and holding organizational meetings with the person in charge of the page during which they received assignments to spread rumors and false news related to state institutions and officials, in addition to highlighting shortcomings and negligence, and escalating and exaggerating some sectarian problems.”
According to the statement, “The rest of the defendants denied joining the Brotherhood, except for one of them, who admitted to joining it previously before separating from it.”
Regarding allegations that the defendants were subjected to physical abuse, the Public Prosecution said: “It was not proven that there were visible injuries to any of the defendants,” and that it referred “three of those who claimed that they were subjected to the use of cruelty to the Forensic Medicine Department, which concluded that they were free of injuries and that there were no signs indicating the use of violence against them.”
The prosecution concluded its statement by announcing the decision to detain the defendants pending investigations, while continuing to complete legal procedures in the case.
Last Monday, the Journalists Syndicate Council decided to “submit a report to the Public Prosecutor regarding what was raised about the detainees being subjected to physical abuse during their detention, and being forced to make statements or recordings that were not true, while proving the invalidity of any confessions taken under duress,” according to the Syndicate’s statement.
The union formed a permanent committee headed by the captain to follow up on the case, demanding their release on the guarantee of the union, or any other guarantees that take into account the young ages of some of them and their lack of experience.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's first visit to Seoul in 10 years witnessed confirmation of strengthening relations and expanding the partnership between the two countries.
At the beginning of his visit, Al-Sisi participated, on Wednesday, in a round table with the heads of major companies and representatives of the business community in the Republic of South Korea, in which 23 companies participated, according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency.
Al-Sisi affirmed “Egypt’s aspiration to continue joint work with the Korean side in order to advance it to more ambitious and broader levels,” noting “the presence of a strong Egyptian political will to enhance cooperation with Korea and move it toward broader horizons, especially in the areas of economy, investment, manufacturing, and technology.”
The Egyptian President also expressed his aspiration to “strengthen cooperation with the Republic of Korea in a number of strategic priority projects,” and renewed the call for the establishment of an integrated Korean industrial zone within the scope of the General Authority for the Suez Canal Economic Zone.
He said that this region could become a regional center for production and export for Korean companies, “not only to meet the needs of the large Egyptian market, but also to access regional and global markets, benefiting from the network of free trade agreements linking Egypt with African countries, the European Union, and Arab countries.”
The Egyptian President urged Korean companies to consider expanding their investments in the fields of oil, gas, and mining, and to take advantage of the opportunities available in new, renewable, and clean energy projects, including solar energy, wind energy, green hydrogen, smart grids, and energy storage technologies.
He also pointed out that there is great potential for establishing partnerships between Egyptian and Korean companies to implement joint construction and infrastructure projects in Arab and African countries.
According to the presidential statement on Wednesday, the session witnessed an interactive discussion with the South Korean business community, where opportunities for implementing strategic and sustainable partnerships between the two countries were discussed.
Former Assistant Foreign Minister, Ambassador Mohamed Hegazy, believes that “Egyptian-South Korean relations are likely to take off strongly with this visit, and the efforts it included to expand the partnership between the two countries to broader horizons, whether at the level of projects or investments.”
According to Hegazy, South Korea possesses “all the technological capabilities that ensure it provides everything Egypt and Africa need.” In light of the turmoil in the region, there will be interest from Seoul and countries the size of China, Indonesia and Malaysia to invest in and through Egypt.”
The visit comes as part of an Asian tour that also includes Malaysia and Indonesia, according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency on Tuesday, and comes amid critical conditions in the region and disruptions in supply chains.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myung welcomed Sisi’s visit, saying through his account on the “X” platform: “We are very pleased that the Egyptian President will visit us as a dear guest in the Republic of Korea for the first time in 10 years.”
He added: “I am meeting with the Egyptian President again in Seoul after the frank dialogue that brought us together in Cairo last year, which makes this meeting more important and meaningful. “I hope that the miracle of the Han River and the miracle of the Nile River will come together to further enhance the common prosperity of both countries.”
The former Assistant Foreign Minister believes that Sisi’s tour is “an expression of Egypt’s awareness of the importance of the Asian depth in its foreign policies, and a direct translation of benefiting from the comprehensive strategic economic partnership between the two sides, and putting it into practice in several aspects.”
According to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics in Egypt, the value of trade exchange with South Korea reached $874 million during the first eight months of 2026, compared to $920 million during the same period in 2025.
President Sisi's last visit to South Korea dates back to March 2016, when he held talks in Seoul with then-Korean President Park Geun-hye. The two sides witnessed the signing of a number of agreements and memorandums of understanding, in addition to raising relations to the level of comprehensive partnership.
