Mada Masr journalist detained on way to Ras al-Hikma for work assignment

Mada Masr journalist Rana Mamdouh was detained this morning at the Alamein police station after the car she was driving in en route to Ras al-Hikma for a work assignment was intercepted.

Rana and the driver of the car were stopped at a temporary police checkpoint at the Alamein toll station. Rana was then questioned on her reasons for traveling to Ras al-Hikma and was held for an hour at the toll under the pretense that she had “conducted a press interview without a permit.” She was then escorted to the Alamein police station, where communication with her was lost.

Rana Mamdouh, a member of the Journalists Syndicate, is one of Egypt’s most prominent journalists. She joined Mada Masr in 2018 and currently works in the outlet’s investigations department, the culmination of a journalistic career that spans 15 years and work with several outlets in Egypt and the region.

In December 2018, Mamdouh submitted an official memorandum to the head of the Journalists Syndicate and its council members regarding a series of violations she faced at the time. These included National Security Agency officers at the Cairo International Airport confiscating her passport upon her return from a conference on investigative journalism in Jordan. Mamdouh was interrogated, her bags searched and personal notes seized. She was asked to report to the agency’s headquarters under the pretext of collecting her passport. Mada Masr’s lawyer and member of the syndicate council judged these actions to be unlawful and unconstitutional.

Rana was detained in late 2019, along with two other journalists from Mada Masr, including Editor-in-Chief Lina Attalah, following the raid on the institution’s office, which took place a day after the arrest of the news editor. All detainees were released within hours.

Mada Masr continues to face intransigence from authorities that complicates its editorial commitments to reporting accurately and with journalistic integrity on Egypt’s political and economic landscape.

The latest example of this intransigence came in mid-February when the Public Prosecution summoned Attalah for questioning regarding a report published by Mada Masr in October on potential plans to forcibly displace Palestinians to Egypt, despite the fact that Mada Masr removed the report in consideration of the “national security” concerns raised by the Supreme Council for Media Regulation shortly after the time of publishing.

Attalah was released on bail.

The February summons came two days after Mada Masr published an investigation on Ibrahim al-Argany, the Sinai businessman and head of the Union of Sinai Tribes, and his control over the entrance of aid and the “coordination” business at the Rafah crossing, which sees his companies accept payment to secure movement into Egypt from Gaza.