Egyptian security services have arrested six journalists between Monday and Tuesday, all working for local independent investigative journalism platform Matsadaash. According to a statement published by the news platform on Wednesday, the crackdown began with raids on the homes of two of the journalists on Monday evening and early Tuesday morning. Over the following hours, authorities raided the homes of the other journalists working for the platform, without providing “any clear explanation for this escalation or its legal basis,” the statement said.
“With these latest arrests, the entire editorial team in the Matsadaash newsroom is now in detention.”
In a separate statement, the journalists’ legal representative, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, said that all six journalists' whereabouts remain unknown, adding that they have not been allowed to contact their families or legal team.
