Philippine journalist critical of Duterte convicted of libel

Manila: Philippine journalist Maria Ressa who heads the news site Rappler Inc. has been found guilty of cyber libel in the country’s first conviction of its kind involving the media, in a decision seen as a blow to press freedom in the Southeast Asian nation.

A Manila court on Monday convicted Ressa, who was accused by a businessman of cyber libel for publishing an allegedly defamatory article in 2012, according to a copy of the decision.

Ressa and her co-accused, former researcher Reynaldo Santos, were sentenced to up to 6 years in jail, but can post bail and appeal the ruling.


“This is a blow to us, but it is also not unexpected,” Ressa, who's also facing seven other criminal charges including for alleged tax evasion and media foreign ownership violation, said at a televised briefing after her conviction.

“We are going to stand up against any kind of attack against press freedom.”