Philippines’ Nobel laureate Maria Ressa loses appeal against cyber libel conviction
- zarasushmaa
- Jul 8, 2022
- 1 min read
The Filipino Nobel peace prize winner Maria Ressa has lost her appeal against a conviction for cyber libel, her news website, Rappler, has said, in the latest blow for the veteran journalist.
Ressa and her former colleague Rey Santos Jr face lengthy jail sentences, but the company said they would “avail 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 the former president Rodrigo Duterte’s last day in office.
Rappler on Friday described the decision to uphold the 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,” Rappler said.
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