Rappler boss Maria Ressa in court for cyber libel verdict

Trishia Billones, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/06/15/20200615-maria-ressa-manila-rtc-ap-s.jpg"/><figcaption>Rappler CEO and Executive Editor Maria Ressa, center, is escorted as she arrives to attend a court hearing at Manila Regional Trial Court, on Monday June 15, 2020. Ressa&#x27;s verdict is expected to be announced Monday for a cyber libel case. <em>Aaron Favila, AP</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - Rappler CEO Maria Ressa arrived in court Monday for the verdict in a cyber libel case that she and watchdogs say is aimed at silencing critics of President Rodrigo Duterte. </p><p>Ressa, Rappler, and former writer-researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr. were accused of defaming businessman Wilfredo Keng in an article published in May 2012.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/13/20/im-ready-maria-ressa-braces-for-worst-ahead-of-cyberlibel-case-verdict">‘I’m ready’: Maria Ressa braces for worst ahead of cyberlibel case verdict</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/14/20/amal-clooney-on-maria-ressas-upcoming-cyber-libel-verdict-world-us-will-be-watching">Amal Clooney on Maria Ressa’s upcoming cyber-libel verdict — World, US will be watching</a></li></ul><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">EARLIER: Ressa&#x27;s co-accused Reynaldo Santos, Jr and Atty Ryan Cruz, lawyer for complainant Wilfredo Keng, arrived just a few moments before Ressa. | via <a href="https://twitter.com/mikenavallo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mikenavallo</a> <a href="https://t.co/sXWaPxgTqh">pic.twitter.com/sXWaPxgTqh</a></p>— ABS-CBN News (@ABSCBNNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/ABSCBNNews/status/1272315822271270914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 14, 2020</a></blockquote><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script><p>Monday&#x27;s verdict in Manila will decide a trial that stems from a businessman&#x27;s 2017 complaint over a Rappler story five years earlier about his alleged ties to a then-judge on the nation&#x27;s top court. </p><p>Ressa, who Time magazine named as a Person of the Year in 2018, did not write the article and government investigators initially dismissed the businessman&#x27;s allegation.</p><p>But state prosecutors later filed charges against her and Reynaldo Santos, the former Rappler journalist who wrote it, under a controversial cyber crime statute aimed at online offenses such as stalking and child pornography.</p><p>The law they are accused of violating took effect in September 2012, months after the article was published.</p><p>But prosecutors say Rappler&#x27;s <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/06/14/20/how-correcting-a-typo-got-maria-into-trouble-the-cyberlibel-case-vs-rappler">typographical correction</a> to the story in 2014 to change &quot;evation&quot; to &quot;evasion&quot; was a substantial modification and the article was thus covered by the law.</p><p>Aside from the cyberlibel case, Rappler and Ressa are facing charges of tax fraud, violating the Securities Regulation Code and the Anti-Dummy Law, among others.</p><p>The award-winning journalist has said that the charges against her and Rappler are the current administration&#x27;s way of intimidating those who seek to hold government to account, a claim dismissed by Malacañang officials.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/06/14/20/cyberlibel-vs-ressa-di-raw-tungkol-sa-press-freedom-ayon-sa-nagreklamo">Cyberlibel vs Ressa, di raw tungkol sa press freedom ayon sa nagreklamo</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/06/14/20/how-correcting-a-typo-got-maria-into-trouble-the-cyberlibel-case-vs-rappler">How correcting a typo got Maria into trouble: The cyberlibel case vs Rappler</a></li></ul><div><strong>-- with a report from Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Rappler CEO Maria Ressa arrived in court Monday for the verdict in a cyber libel case that her supporters said would be a test to the country's justice system.</p>

Rappler CEO Maria Ressa arrived in court Monday for the verdict in a cyber libel case that her supporters said would be a test to the country's justice system.

Rappler boss Maria Ressa in court for cyber libel verdict | ABS-CBN

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Rappler boss Maria Ressa in court for cyber libel verdict

Rappler boss Maria Ressa in court for cyber libel verdict

Trishia Billones,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jun 15, 2020 08:20 AM PHT

|

Updated Jun 15, 2020 09:16 AM PHT

Read More:

Maria Ressa

Rappler

cyberlibel

Maria Ressa cyberlibel

Wilfredo Keng

Reynaldo Santos Jr

Manila Regional Trial Court

Maria Ressa cyberlibel verdict

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