Journalists Syndicate files complaint over torture of Matsadaash journalists

The Journalists Syndicate board decided to file a complaint with the Prosecutor General regarding physical abuse suffered by Matsadaash journalists during their detention. Meanwhile, board member Mahmoud Kamel said the Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered journalist Abdallah Qadri detained Monday for 15 days pending investigation.

On Monday, the interior ministry denied the syndicate’s allegations of torture, saying that “these claims have no basis in truth.” Dismissing the allegations made by the syndicate and “Brotherhood-linked social media pages” as an attempt to deflect from criminal charges, the ministry said the case remains before the judiciary, claiming that “everyone is equal under the law.”

Kamel told Al Manassa he attended the interrogations on Sunday with Qadri, and that the prosecution charged him with “joining a terrorist group, committing crimes of funding a terrorist group, using a website to promote the ideas and beliefs of an extremist terrorist group, receiving and broadcasting its ideas, and broadcasting and publishing news with the aim of disturbing public peace and security.”

Kamel noted in a Facebook post that he attended the interrogation alongside the syndicate’s legal unit, and they pressed for Qadri’s release on bail tied to his place of residence, under syndicate guarantee, or with any guarantees and precautionary measures the prosecution deemed appropriate.

The Journalists Syndicate board announced the formation of a permanent committee headed by the syndicate head to follow up on the case, demanding the release of the six journalists on bail with appropriate conditions that take into account their youth and lack of experience.

The syndicate board held an emergency meeting Monday evening to discuss the crisis surrounding the arrest of the six journalists from the Matsadaash platform team: Abdallah Qadri, Mohamed Ashraf Abo Emeira, Mohamed Adel, Islam Barakat, Mohamed Mahmoud, and Omar Hilal.

All syndicate board members attended the meeting, which lasted over three hours, except Mahmoud Kamel, who was present at Qadri’s interrogation, and Mohamed El-Garhy, who was ill. In a post-meeting statement, the board unanimously decided to file a complaint with the Prosecutor General over physical abuse in detention, forced false statements or recordings, and the invalidity of coerced confessions.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) said Monday that some journalists from the Matsadaash platform documented before the Supreme State Security Prosecution during their interrogation sessions their exposure to various forms of torture and ill-treatment while being held at different National Security Sector facilities after their arrest and prior to being brought before any judicial body.

EIPR quoted defense lawyers attending the interrogations, including lawyers from EIPR and the Journalists Syndicate, as saying that the journalists reported “being bound with their hands behind their backs and blindfolded while being held and interrogated at National Security facilities. They also reported beatings, forced stripping, electric shocks and threats to harm them or their families.”

The board decided to take legal and syndicate steps to defend all six colleagues regardless of membership status, citing Article 5, Paragraph A, of the Journalists Syndicate Law, which requires professional practice as a prerequisite for registration. The statement clarified that this “means that practicing the profession precedes registration,” a principle the syndicate has historically upheld to defend all active journalists, whether union members or not.

The syndicate explained that the arrested journalists “took legal steps to document their work and regularize their status through formal contracts, providing copies to Egyptian banks to process their salaries, which demonstrates their compliance with Egyptian law and proves their good faith.”

It noted that “the responsibility of journalists is limited to the product of their professional work, and journalists are not responsible for verifying the funding sources of the institution they work for; rather, state authorities are tasked with this, as it is a matter ordinary people cannot determine.”

The statement noted that the team had previously submitted these contracts following a similar crisis three years ago, when the platform publicly named its entire staff. That roster included three of the currently detained journalists, alongside a fourth who was held for two days before being released without charges after the syndicate intervened. The team subsequently resumed work, which the syndicate argued refutes any suspicion regarding activities beyond their professional journalism.

In 2023, Matsadaash editor Karim Asaad was detained for 48 hours after security forces raided his home to question him over the platform’s coverage of a private plane seized in Zambia.

Zambian authorities announced in August 2023 that the plane, which had departed from Cairo to Lusaka, was found carrying $5.7 million in cash, 602 metal bars suspected to be gold, and five pistols with 126 rounds of ammunition.

In conjunction with the emergency meeting of the Journalists Syndicate board, dozens of journalists organized a protest outside the hall where the meeting was held to object to the detention of the Matsadaash journalists.

Participants chanted, “Bring the six from the cells... freedom to every prisoner,” “All these six are our colleagues, come on board, step up,” “Freedom for Matsadaash,” and “Journalism supports Matsadaash.”

Eman Ouf, rapporteur of the Journalists Syndicate’s Freedoms Committee, told Al Manassa she attended the interrogation of syndicate member Abdallah Qadri. She submitted a formal request to the Prosecutor General documenting the abuse Qadri suffered, demanding an investigation into the officers involved, and holding the prosecution responsible for his physical and psychological safety.

She indicated that the State Security Prosecutor General requested to meet her after these requests were submitted, and pledged to protect Qadri.

Late last Tuesday evening, Matsadaash announced in a statement the arrest of journalists Mohamed Ashraf Abo Emeira and Abdallah Qadri, editors at the platform, late Monday night, before later announcing that the number had risen to six journalists following the arrests of journalists Islam Barakat, Mohamed Adel, Mohamed Mahmoud, and Omar Hilal.

More than 48 hours later, the Ministry of Interior issued a statement regarding the Matsadaash journalists, confirming their arrest, after accusing the independent media platform of being “part of the media committees of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood.”

Matsadaash responded to the Interior Ministry’s accusations in a statement, saying, “This claim is false.”