Human rights defender and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa and Rappler acquitted by the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA), Philippines
On 18 January 2023, the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) Philippines aquitted Maria Ressa and her news network, ‘Rappler’, of tax evasion. The four year long legal batttle established a landmark judgement on freedom of expression and freedom of the press in the Philippines. In the words of Ressa - ‘Today, facts win. Truth wins. Justice wins.’
On 15 June 2020, a Manila court, with limited attendees due to COVID-19, found Maria Ressa guilty of cyber libel charges. The woman human rights defender is facing up to six years in prison.
On 13 February 2019, human rights defender and journalist Maria Ressa was arrested by officers from the National Bureau of Investigation on charges of cyber libel carrying up to 12 years’ imprisionment. She was released the following day after posting a bail of 100,000 PHP (1,690 EUR).
Maria Ressa is the CEO and co-founder of Rappler, the leading independent online news network in the Philippines. Prior to starting Rappler in 2012, Maria Ressa was the CNN’s regional bureau chief first in Manila, and then in Jakarta. Over her more-than-three-decade career as a journalist in Asia, she has received several awards for her steadfastness in upholding and promoting freedom of expression. Most recently, Maria Ressa was named as one of Time magazine’s 2018 Person of the Year.
On 18 January 2023, the Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) Philippines acquitted Maria Ressa and her news network, ‘Rappler’, of tax evasion. The four year long legal batttle established a landmark judgement on freedom of expression and freedom of the press in the Philippines. In the words of Maria Ressa - ‘Today, facts win. Truth wins. Justice wins.’
The case was filed in 2018 on four charges of tax evasion and misrepresented tax returns regarding investments secured by Rappler. The Court of Tax Appeals held that the prosecutors failed to provide evidence that Maria Ressa gained from investments, resulting in her acquittal. Maria Ressa continues to face cyberlibel charges under Section 4(C)(4) of the Cybercrime Prevention Act, 2012. The misuse of this legislation to intimidate and repress jounalists and human rights defenders, especially in the case of Maria Ressa, has been criticised by the UN and by the Human Rights Committee, in their 2022 Report on the Philippines.
Maria Ressa is a journalist and the CEO of the leading independent news network ‘Rappler’ in the Philippines. Maria Ressa and ‘Rappler’ have been the victims of targeting, harassment and intimidation, resulting in Maria Ressa’s arrest and Rappler’s license being revoked. This was as a result of their reporting on the human rights situation, especially that pertaining to the war on drugs in the Philippines.
On 15 June 2020, a Manila court, with limited attendees due to COVID-19, found Maria Ressa guilty of cyber libel charges. The woman human rights defender is facing up to six years in prison.
The court ordered the defender to pay Php 200,000 (about 3,500 Euros) in 'moral damages' and another Php 200,000 in 'exemplary damages' to the businessman Wilfredo Keng, the plaintiff.
Maria Ressa is currently out on bail.
On 13 February 2019, human rights defender and journalist Maria Ressa was arrested by officers from the National Bureau of Investigation on charges of cyber libel carrying up to 12 years’ imprisionment. She was released the following day after posting a bail of 100,000 PHP (1,690 EUR).
Maria Ressa is the CEO and co-founder of Rappler, the leading independent online news network in the Philippines. Prior to starting Rappler in 2012, Maria Ressa was the CNN’s regional bureau chief first in Manila, and then in Jakarta. Over her more-than-three-decade career as a journalist in Asia, she has received several awards for her steadfastness in upholding and promoting freedom of expression. Most recently, Maria Ressa was named as one of Time magazine’s 2018 Person of the Year.
The warrant for Maria Ressa’s arrest was issued on 12 February 2019 by Presiding Judge Rainelda Estacio Montesa of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46.
At around 5pm on 13 February 2019, Maria Ressa was arrested at the Rappler office in Manila by officers from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for allegedly committing libel under Section 4(C)(4) of the 2012 Cybercrime Prevention Act. She was forced to spend the night in NBI custody despite her lawyers’ efforts to post bail at the Pasay night court. The bail was rejected by the judge on the grounds that the bail proceedings had not been completed before a 9pm deadline, although Rule 114 Section 17 of the rules of court does not prohibit the filing for bail on such grounds.
On 14 February 2019, Maria Ressa was released from the NBI after posting a bail of 100,000 PHP (1,690 EUR).
The charges against Maria Ressa are over an article that Rappler published on 29 May 2012, approximately four months before the Cybercrime Prevention Act was enacted. More than five years after the article was published, on 11 October 2017, businessman Wilfredo Keng filed a complaint at the NBI on the grounds that the article had maliciously linked him to illegal drugs and human trafficking.
The NBI Cybercrime Division initially dismissed the complaint on 22 February 2018 on the grounds that the one-year limit for bringing libel cases had lapsed. However, the same division revived the complaint a week later and filed it with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the grounds that Rappler had made punctuation changes to the article on 19 February 2014, after the enactment of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
On 10 January 2019, the DOJ ruled in favour of Keng and falsely named Maria Ressa as the editor of the article in its decision. The DOJ also said that Rappler could be held liable based on the theory of “continuous publication.”
Both Maria Ressa and Rappler have been repeated targets of judicial harassment and intimidation for their reporting on the ongoing “war on drugs” in the Philippines. In November 2018, the DOJ filed five tax evasion charges against Maria Ressa and Rappler, threatening to close down the news outlet and imprison Maria Ressa. Early last year, following President Rodrigo Duterte’s allegations that Rappler was reporting “fake news” and that it violated the constitutional restriction on foreign ownership of mass media, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revoked the media outlet’s license.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned over the charges and judicial harassment against Maria Ressa as it believes that they are a result of her peaceful and legitimate work in the defence of human rights, particularly in upholding and promoting freedom of expression.
