Egyptian journalist Lina Attalah, editor-in-chief of the independent news site Mada Masr, was convicted of operating the site without a licence. She was fined nearly €50,000 and detained after the ruling. The judge ordered Mada Masr to close and its equipment to be seized.

Amnesty International and the Committee to Protect Journalists described the case as an attack on press freedom. A single report said that Attalah’s licence applications had repeatedly been ignored.