Nobel Peace laureate Ressa loses appeal against conviction for cyber libel
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
MANILA • Philippine Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa has lost her appeal against a conviction for cyber libel, her news website Rappler said yesterday, in the latest blow for the veteran journalist.
Ms Ressa, 58, and her former colleague Rey Santos Jr face lengthy jail terms, but Rappler said they will make use of all legal remedies available to them, including taking the case to the Supreme Court. The ruling comes less than two weeks after the Philippine authorities ordered Rappler to shut down ahead of then President Rodrigo Duterte's last day in office.
Yesterday, Rappler described the court's decision to uphold the 2020 conviction as "unfortunate", saying it "weakens the ability of journalists to hold power to account. What is ultimately at stake is our democracy whose strength rests on a media that is not threatened by the state nor intimidated by forces out to silence critical voices".
Ms Ressa, now in Manila, has long been a vocal critic of Mr Duterte and the deadly drug war he launched in 2016, triggering what media advocates say is a grinding series of criminal charges, probes and online attacks against her and Rappler.
She and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year for their efforts to "safeguard freedom of expression". Ms Ressa, who is also a US citizen, is fighting at least seven court cases, including the cyber-libel case.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
