A court in the Philippines has found journalist Maria Ressa and one former Rappler reporter, guilty of a controversial charge of cyberlibel, in a case seen as a major test of press freedom under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a decision issued on Monday, the court sentenced Ressa, the executive editor of the news website Rappler, and Reynaldo Santos Jr to six months and one day to up to six years in jail. But it allowed both to post bail, pending an appeal the case. They are the first two journalists in the Philippines convicted of cyberlibel.
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In a press conference following the verdict, Ressa vowed to fight the case, saying the case of Rappler is “a cautionary tale” for the Philippine media.
The case is the first of at least eight active cases filed against her and her media organisation since Duterte came to office in 2016.
The cyberlibel case against Ressa and her publication stems from a 2017 complaint filed by a businessman over a Rappler story published in 2012, before the cybercrime law was even passed.
The businessman said his reputation was “defamed” when he was linked to the then-Supreme Court Chief Justice, who was later removed from office through an impeachment.
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Duterte’s war on drugs and those reporting it – The Listening Post – (Full)
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The libel complaint was initially dismissed in 2018, but government investigators under the office of President Duterte, quickly reversed their decision and recommended that Ressa and the reporter, Reynaldo Santos Jr, be prosecuted. Prosecutors said they are only following the law.
‘Absurd’ case
Around the same time, Duterte had sought to close Rappler for alleged foreign ownership and tax evasion – allegations Rappler denied.
The news site had earned Duterte’s ire for its relentless coverage of the war on drugs that killed thousands of drug suspects. It also exposed a pro-Duterte network circulating alleged fake news on social media.
BREAKING. The Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 46 convicted Rappler CEO and Executive Editor Maria Ressa and former Rappler researcher-writer Reynaldo Santos over cyber libel charges in a high-profile verdict handed down Monday, June 15. https://t.co/o7fgxV0ThN
— Rappler (@rapplerdotcom) June 15, 2020
Aside from Rappler, Duterte has also targeted and forced the closure of ABS-CBN, the largest media company in the Philippines, while the owners of the country’s largest newspaper, Philippine Daily Inquirer, were forced to sell the publication to a Duterte ally after publishing news reports and editorials critical of the mounting deaths.
Ahead of the verdict, Carlos Conde, of Human Rights Watch in the Philippines, said the case against Rappler “should never have been filed to begin with.”
“The absurdity of this particular case against Maria Ressa – prosecutors deemed the story in question ‘republished’ after Rappler corrected one word that was misspelled – suggests the desperation of those behind it to silence her and Rappler,” Conde said in a statement to Al Jazeera.
