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In yet another blow to press freedomÌýin Egypt, Ìýa Mada Masr journalist has been summoned over the weekend for interrogation before the Luxor prosecution in the south aboutÌýa news story on suspected corruption at a major political party, the independent news outlet in a statement.

The journalist, whose name was not specified in the statement, is believed to have been accused of spreading false news among other charges, following a news bulletin on 31 August and co-written by three reporters: Rana Mamdouh, Beesan Kassab and Sara Seif Eddin.

In the bulletin in question, Mada Masr accusations of corruption against several senior members of Mostsaqbal Watan (Nation's Future) party leaders investigated by official oversight bodies, leading to a decision to expel them from the political scene, the statement read.Ìý

The claims were one day later by the party.

As a result, several MPs, affiliated with the party, filed dozens of complaints across Egypt against the three female reporters as well as Mada Masr's CEO, according to legal paperwork and sources close to the party who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity.

"Mada Masr regards the summons for interrogation as an expected development consistent with the significant pressure that journalists working in Egypt have been subject to in recent years,"Ìýthe outlet noted.

"This is an old tactic"Ìýto increase pressure and oblige the subjects of the complaints to appear before different prosecutors, the defence team said.

The outlet's lawyers intend to petition the public prosecutor to merge the complaints into one investigation to avoid parallel proceedings before different investigating bodies.

The state of the media and journalism in Egypt sharply afterÌýthen-defence minister, Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, overthrew the country's first democratically elected president,ÌýMohamed Morsi, on 3 July 2013.

Over 500 local and international websites of organisations and news outlets, includingÌý Mada Masr andÌý°®Âþµº,Ìýhave been banned in the country.

In 2021, Egypt has beenÌýÌýthe world's third-worst jailer of journalists by theÌýÌýto Protect Journalists, with at least 60 behind bars.

Mada Masr has been among the few remaining outlets attempting to swimÌýagainst the authoritarian tide, offering its readers quality journalism including news, analysis, features, and investigative reports in both Arabic and English.

Among the significant reports run by the outlet is aboutÌýpresident Sisi's son, senior intelligence agency officer Mahmoud El-Sisi published in 2019.

Since then, the feud between the authorities andÌýMada MasrÌýis thought to have escalated. In the same month, the report was published, plain-clothed security forces raided theÌýoffice andÌýÌýthree senior journalists inside the premises, including the editor-in-chief, Lina Attalah, after confiscating their laptops and mobile phones, for several hours.

Almost one year later, Attalah was subjected to an act of intimidation when she was detained while interviewing mathematics professor Laila Soueif, theÌýÌýof jailed prominentÌýÌýAlaa Abdel-Fattah, outside Tora maximum-security prison in Cairo.

In the same year, the Supreme Council for Media RegulationÌý(SCMR), known for being loyal to the regime,ÌýÌýjournalists and social media users fromÌýreporting on sensitive political and economic issues. Other restrictions were imposed over the following years on reporting about subjects such asÌýÌý´Ç°ùÌý.

"Mada Masr's defence team intends to take legal measures to ask the public prosecutor to hear the organization’s leadership and journalists'Ìýtestimonials in the above-mentioned complaint and any other complaint on the same issue," the statement said.