Editor Lina Attalah was freed once a $53,400 fine was paid, only to learn of a one-year sentence passed in her absence. The conviction of respected journalist Lina Attalah and the closure of the independent news site represents a devastating blow to press freedom in the. Egypt convicts Mada Masr editor in ‘draconian’ press crackdown - Egypt has consistently ranked as one the world's leading jailers of journalists since.