A court in Manila on Monday found Maria Ressa, journalist and editor of online publication Rappler, guilty of cyber libel. She has been a consistent critic of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.…
– a process that is currently widespread throughout Asia – and follows the shutdown of leading broadcaster ABS-CBN. Like Ressa, ABS-CBN had resisted and reported on Duterte’s deployment of an assassination campaign against drug users. Several thousand people are estimated to have been the victims of extra-judicial killings by Philippines police.
The cyber crimes law, which also covers child pornography and stalking, only came into effect several months after the original article was published. But the court ruled that a 2014 correction of a typographical error in the story meant that it was covered by the law.The Duterte government has insisted that the case is not politically motivated. But Rappler and former CNN journalist Ressa have been probed and investigated on 11 previous occasions.
Earlier, she said on Twitter: “The weaponization of the law followed exponential attacks on media.. inciting hate, and paving the way to my detentions and arrests.”
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Philippines' Maria Ressa found guilty of 'cyber libel' in latest blow to free pressPhilippines journalist Maria Ressa was found guilty of 'cyber libel,' in a case she and press freedom groups have described as a politically motivated prosecution by the Duterte government
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Philippine court convicts journalist Maria Ressa in libel caseMaria Ressa, 56, and her news site Rappler have been the target of legal action and probes after publishing stories critical of Duterte's policies, including his drug war that has killed thousands.
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