Philippines journalist Maria Ressa found guilty of cyber libel

Manila [Philippines], June 15 (ANI): Celebrated Philippines journalist Maria Ressa was found guilty of cyber libel on Monday.
She was arrested in 2019 from her Manila office of Rappler, the online news outlet she had founded in 2012. The site has widely reported on President Rodrigo Duterte and his brutal war on drugs that killed several people.
Ressa had been charged with a lawsuit relating to a story written in 2012, which alleged that businessman Wilfredo Keng had links to illegal drugs and human trafficking. However, the article was published by Rappler two years before the new cyber libel laws came into effect in the Philippines.
In March, she was detained at Manila airport and later charged with violating the anti-dummy law and a legislation related to securities fraud.
During the hearings, the prosecutors argued that a correction made to the story after the law passed constituted a "republication" and meant it could be considered as "cyber libel".
However, JJ Disini, one of Ressa's lawyers, was quoted as saying that the charges were "politically motivated" and any updates made to the offending article in 2014 were "merely a punctuation change".
"If the libel had been committed way back in 2012, a change in punctuation could not have republished that libel," Disini said.
Ressa and a Rappler staffer Reynaldo Santos Jr., who wrote the story, were found guilty of the offence. According to the verdict, they face a minimum of six months in prison, and up to seven years, though are likely to be bailed while they appeal the judgment.
Meanwhile, speaking after the verdict, Ressa said that the verdict was "not unexpected".
"We will keep fighting. I appeal to you, the journalists in the room the Philippines who have been listening -- to protect your rights. We are meant to be a cautionary tale. We are meant to make you afraid. So I appeal again. Do not be afraid. If you don't use your rights, you will lose them," she stated. (ANI)