Egypt blocks website of leading rights group

CAIRO – A leading Egyptian rights group says authorities have blocked its website in a “new attack” on free speech.

The government in May began blocking hundreds of websites, including leading news sites, as part of a wider crackdown on dissent. It has also shut down the sites of VPN blockers, which allowed users to circumvent such measures.

The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms says its website has been blocked since Tuesday morning, but that it will continue publishing its reports on human rights abuses on other platforms, including its Facebook page.

It says the crackdown shows that the government “refuses any criticism,” but also that “its arguments are weak.”

Egypt has jailed thousands of people and curbed basic freedoms since the military overthrow of an elected Islamist president in 2013.