Yehia Kalash (C), head of Egyptian press syndicate, speaks during a news conference on World Press Freedom Day at the syndicate's headquarters in downtown Cairo, Egypt, 03 May 2016. Egyptian journalists called for protests on the stairs of downtown Cairo’s Journalists Syndicate on 03 May on World Press Freedom Day to condemn the police’s unconstitutional storming of the building on Sunday and arrest of two journalists. EPA/HAZEM ABDEL HAMID EGYPT OUT
The arrests comprised the entire newsroom of Matsaddash, a digital platform that has operated since 2018, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), which is providing the journalists with legal representation.
According to the EIPR, plainclothes security personnel had started raiding the journalists' homes on Monday evening and confiscated electronic devices.
In a statement disclosing the arrests, the interior ministry accused the site of being managed from abroad as "part of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood’s media apparatus" with the help of Brotherhood "elements" inside the country.
Matsaddash denied that it was affiliated with the Brotherhood. In a statement it pointed to reports that it had issued correcting what it described as misinformation published by Brotherhood-affiliated media outlets.
Egypt banned the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group in 2013, the year the army overthrew President Mohamed Mursi, a Brotherhood member who was democratically elected.
Egyptian journalists and activists have frequently been arrested on charges of spreading false news and rumours, and many independent outlets say they struggle to operate under restrictive conditions.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 19 journalists are currently detained in Egypt.
Egypt's State Information Service, which liaises with foreign media on behalf of state agencies, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Editing by Peter Graff)
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