Al Manassa, Arab media unite to fact-check Egypt’s ‘Achievements Conference’

Eight Egyptian and Arab news organizations announced Sunday the launch of a six-day joint newsroom to fact-check claims made at the government’s “Achievements Conference,” in solidarity with six imprisoned colleagues from the Matsadaash platform who have been detained since Sept. 29 over their journalistic work.

The participating news organizations are Al Manassa, Saheeh Masr, and Mada Masr from Egypt; Megaphone, Daraj, and Sifr from Lebanon; Nawaat from Tunisia; and Al Jumhuriya from Syria.

Under the slogan “Until they return, fact-checking continues,” the joint newsroom will operate throughout the conference convened by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi. The conference, titled Egypt Forum 2026, runs from tomorrow, Oct. 19, through Saturday, Oct. 24.

The eight news organizations said: “Six days for six journalists is an act of journalistic solidarity with our colleagues at the Matsadaash platform, during which we will step in for them until they can return to their vital journalistic work of fact-checking and sharing information. Work they would have carried out with their usual professionalism and accuracy had Egyptian authorities not arrested and detained them solely for practicing journalism and fulfilling its core mission: holding leaders accountable and informing the public.”

Egyptian security authorities arrested the six Matsadaash journalists on Sept. 28 and 29 after raiding their homes: Mohamed Ashraf, Islam Barakat, Abdullah Qadri, Mohamed Mahmoud, Mohamed Adel, and Omar Hilal.

After five days of secret detention under the counterterrorism law, the six journalists appeared before the Supreme State Security Prosecution, where several reported being subjected to torture and mistreatment, including blindfolding, having their hands bound behind their backs, being stripped, beaten, and given electric shocks.

On Oct. 13, the prosecution renewed the journalists’ detention for an additional 15 days pending investigation in Case No. 8083 of 2026 (Supreme State Security). They face charges of “joining and financing a terrorist group, spreading false news, and using social media accounts to circulate it.”

The eight news organizations called on newspapers, news websites and journalists across the Arab region to show solidarity by joining the initiative, covering and fact-checking the conference sessions, publishing related coverage, or sharing content from the campaign’s dedicated pages on Facebook and X.

The participating outlets demand the immediate release of the detained journalists and an end to all forms of persecution against them. They also call on journalists’ unions and associations across the Arab region and worldwide to show solidarity and organize actions in their respective countries, and urge the Federation of Arab Journalists and the International Federation of Journalists to take immediate, substantive action in defense of the Matsadaash journalists.