Journalist guilty of president’s ‘libel’

AN award-winning journalist critical of the Philippine president has been convicted of libel and sentenced to jail in what critics called a major blow to press freedom in an Asian bastion of democracy.

A Manila court found Maria Ressa, of the online news site Rappler Inc, and former reporter Reynaldo Santos Jr guilty of libelling a wealthy businessman.

The Rappler’s story on May 29, 2012, cited an intelligence report linking him to a murder, drug dealing, human trafficking and smuggling.

The businessman, Wilfredo Keng, welcomed the ruling, which he said vindicated him and cleared his name “which Ressa, with one click of a button, attempted to destroy”.