- Egyptian officials say authorities have arrested the editor of an independent news website for operating without a license
- The offices of the Masr Al-Arabia website were shuttered
CAIRO: Egyptian officials say authorities have arrested the editor of an independent news website for operating without a license, the latest episode in a crackdown on independent media.
They say Adel Sabri was arrested late Tuesday and taken to a Cairo police station, while the offices of the Masr Al-Arabia website were shuttered. Prosecutors are questioning him Wednesday.
The arrest came a day after President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi won a second, four-year term in office, with 97 percent of the vote in last week’s election.
El-Sisi has since 2014 moved to tame the media, silencing critical voices and blocking hundreds of independent news sites as part of a wider campaign against dissent.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.