Egyptian prosecutors have sent Lina Attalah, the editor-in-chief of the news site Mada Masr, to trial, according to DW and the Associated Press, whose report ran on ABC News.

Attalah is charged with running a website without a license, DW and the AP reported. Prosecutors questioned her for more than six hours on Wednesday. She was also questioned on a charge of publishing false news, but that charge was left out of the trial referral, the outlets said.

The trial is set to begin October 27 in a court in New Cairo, DW and the AP reported.

If convicted, Attalah faces a fine of 1 million to 3 million Egyptian pounds, about $18,000 to $54,000, her lawyer Hassan al-Azhari said, according to DW and the AP. Under Egypt's media law, a court could also order the site closed, the AP reported.

Al-Azhari called the speed of the referral "unjustified urgency," DW and the AP reported. She was released on bail of 100,000 Egyptian pounds, about $1,800, the AP said.

Mada Masr is one of Egypt's last independent news outlets, the AP reported. It often publishes reporting critical of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi's government, DW said. The site has been blocked in Egypt since 2017, the AP reported.

Mada Masr says it has sought a license since 2018, DW and the AP reported. It says it learned in 2022 that its request had been rejected.

The case is the sixth against Mada Masr and its journalists in six years, the AP reported. Last month, security forces arrested six journalists from Matsadaash, an independent fact-checking site, DW and the AP reported.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said Egypt is "weaponizing its media law to punish independent journalism," DW reported. Egypt ranks 169th of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders, the AP said.

What we know: Attalah faces trial on October 27 on a charge of running a website without a license.
What we don't: Whether the court will fine her or order Mada Masr closed.