Matsadaash denies Interior Ministry allegations; Syndicate refutes official account
More than 48 hours after their disappearance began, the Ministry of Interior issued a statement regarding the journalists of the media platform Matsadaash, confirming their arrest and accusing the independent media outlet of being “among the media committees of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood.”
In its statement, the ministry said it monitored the online page “Matsadaash” while tracking “plots by the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood aimed at undermining the country’s stability by fabricating lies and spreading rumors,” despite the page being launched eight years ago.
The ministry noted that the platform’s page, which refutes statements by government officials, is “unlicensed and managed from abroad, broadcasting false news and distorting facts,” adding that the page is “administered by a fugitivr Brotherhood member residing abroad, Abdel Rahman Shokry Ali Abdel Galil Mansour.”
The ministry accused the six arrested journalists of “assisting Abdel Rahman Mansour by preparing false and fabricated news and sending it to him to publish in exchange for financial funding they receive from abroad.” This came after the ministry labeled the reporters as “Brotherhood elements inside the country.”
On Tuesday evening, Matsadaash announced in a statement that journalists Mohamed Ashraf and Abdullah Qadri, editors at the platform, had been arrested late on Monday evening. On Wednesday, it announced that the number had risen to six journalists, following the arrests of Islam Barakat, Mohamed Adel, Mohamed Mahmoud, and Omar Hilal.
The ministry confirmed the journalists’ arrest, noting that one is a member of the Journalists Syndicate. It added that officials informed Syndicate Head Khaled Elbalshy of the reporter’s arrest and the circumstances behind it.
In a statement responding to the Ministry of Interior’s allegations, Matsadaash dismissed the claims as untrue. The platform noted that over eight years, it has “published hundreds of corrections and fact-checks of false statements and news promoted by entities and figures affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, and has also debunked hundreds of rumors published by media outlets broadcasting from outside Egypt.”
Mohamed Saad Abdel Hafeez, board member of the Journalists Syndicate, told Al Manassa that the syndicate was not informed in advance of the arrests.
Instead, the journalists’ families and lawyers alerted the syndicate head, who immediately initiated contacts to inquire about the reasons for the arrests and where they were being detained, contradicting the Ministry of Interior’s account.
The syndicate reached out to relevant authorities to clarify the details behind the arrests and offered all necessary guarantees to secure the six journalists’ release without referring them to the prosecution, Abdel Hafeez said, pointing to presidential calls to ease media restrictions.
He noted that the arrests send a negative message, adding that he and other members of the syndicate board, accompanied by Syndicate Head Khaled Elbalshy, would head to the detention sites alongside a legal team to provide them with all forms of legal and professional support.
“Our colleagues were not detained because they committed a crime,” Abdel Hafiz wrote in a Facebook post. “Their only crime is that they track statements by officials, politicians, media personalities, and other public figures, verifying and refuting them, and comparing what is presented with reality, and what is being said with what was said before.”
He added, “Our colleagues produce important content that has unfortunately been absent from Egyptian journalism for a long time due to deliberate interference. Cracking down on the press will not achieve stability, nor will prosecuting journalists change reality.”
Dozens of civil society organizations and independent media outlets, including Al Manassa, issued a joint statement Wednesday evening, condemning the escalating crackdown that targeted the entire Matsadaash newsroom.
The statement noted that security forces raided the journalists’ homes in Cairo, Gharbiya and Port Said. During the raids, police officers confiscated phones and laptops, including devices belonging to family members, refused to present search warrants, and declined to disclose where the journalists were being taken, a location that remains unknown despite the ministry’s statement.
The statement added, “This is not the first time that Matsadaash has come under attack by the Egyptian authorities. In 2023, a Matsadaash editor was arrested. Although he was ultimately released 48 hours later, the platform has also previously come under smear campaigns intended to silence its critical work.”
The signatory organizations and media outlets clarified that Egypt is among the world’s leading jailers of journalists, with 19 currently behind bars, including Al Manassa cartoonist Ashraf Omar.
The joint statement demanded the immediate release of the Matsadaash journalists, the cessation of all forms of targeting directed at the platform and the release of all journalists detained or imprisoned because of their work in Egypt.
In March 2024, the Journalists Syndicate criticized the continued blocking of several news websites, primarily Al Manassa, which has been blocked 13 times, most recently in July 2022, despite the lifting of blocks on other sites, including Darb, Al-Sulta Al-Rabaa, Zat Misr, and Misr 360.
Egypt ranks 169th out of 180 countries on the 2026 World Press Freedom Index.