Philippines frees Duterte critic Ressa

Journo hit with libel charge for slamming deadly narcotics crackdown

Maria Ressa, the award-winning head of Rappler, a Philippine online news site that has aggressively covered President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration was freed on bail yesterday after her arrest in a libel case. “What we’re seeing is death by a thousand cuts of our democracy,” Ressa told reporters after posting bail in the Manila regional trial court that issued a warrant for her arrest.

MANILA: Philippine journalist Maria Ressa ( pic) was freed on bail following an arrest that sparked international censure and allegations she is being targeted over her news site’s criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Ressa spent a night in detention after authorities arrested the veteran reporter at her Manila office Wednesday in a sharp upping of government pressure on her and her website Rappler.

The site and Ressa, 55, have been hit with tax evasion charges and now a libel case after clashing repeatedly with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte over his deadly crackdown on narcotics that has killed thousands.

“It’s about two things: abuse of power and weaponisation of the law,” an emotional Ressa told journalists as she stepped out of a Manila court where she posted bail.

“What we are seeing is death by a thousand cuts to our democracy,” added Ressa, who was named a Time Magazine

“Person of the Year” in

2018 for her journalism.

Ressa paid 100,000 pesos (RM7,773), the sixth time she posted bail to avoid detention following a slew of charges.

International condemnation from dignitaries and press freedom and human rights groups has poured in since plain-clothes agents appeared at Rappler to serve an arrest warrant on the charge that carries up to 12 years behind bars.

Meanwhile, the Asia News Network (ANN) also condemned Ressa’s arrest, adding that the Philippine government must refrain from any form of intimidation against the media.

“We are seriously disturbed by the manner of her arrest and we urge the Philippine government to refrain from any form of intimidation against the media.

“As Asia’s leading alliance of 23 news media, we urge President Rodrigo Duterte and his government to be fair and impartial in the treatment of media organisations in his country.”

The ANN said Ressa’s arrest violated the freedom that was crucial to media organisations to have and to play their part as a key pillar in functioning democracies.

“This is particularly important in Asia where systems of democratic representation, accountability and legal recourse are at various stages of nascent development, with much room for improvement and need for safeguarding.

“The people of the Philippines, and the media that serves them, deserve no less,” said the ANN in a statement yesterday.

The actions against Ressa and Rappler raised serious questions about whether the charges were politically motivated, said the ANN.

“The story linked the businessman to murder, human trafficking and drug smuggling, which, we acknowledge, the businessman’s lawyers said was wrong and defamatory.

“It also linked him to a senior judge of the country’s top court. These are serious charges that need to be examined and the truth ascertained,” said the ANN.

While investigators initially dismissed the businessman’s 2017 complaint about the article, the case was subsequently forwarded to prosecutors for their consideration.

The legal foundation of the case is a controversial law aiming to crack down on online offences ranging from harassment to child pornography.