黑料社

Condemnation from international and local press freedom and human rights groups poured in on Thursday after National Bureau of Investigation agents arrested Rappler CEO Maria Ressa on cyberlibel charges widely seen as a government attempt to silence criticism of President Duterte.

Ressa was arrested in her Pasig City office late on Wednesday but was ordered freed on P100,000 bail by the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) on Thursday morning.

She spent Wednesday night at NBI headquarters in Manila after a night court refused to accept her bail because the warrant issued by Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa of the Manila RTC Branch 46 did not state the amount.

Clashes with Duterte

Her arrest sparked international and local censure and allegations she was being targeted over her news site鈥檚 criticism of President Duterte.

Rappler and Ressa, 55, have been hit with tax evasion charges and now a cyberlibel case after clashing repeatedly with 聽Duterte over the President鈥檚 war on illegal drugs that has killed thousands of suspects.

The cyberlibel charge against Ressa, one of Time magazine鈥檚 鈥淧erson of the Year鈥� honorees for 2018, carries up to 12 years behind bars.

It stemmed from a complaint filed with the NBI by businessman Wilfredo Keng over a Rappler report published on May 29, 2012, linking him to impeached Chief Justice Renato Corona and claiming he had been under government surveillance on suspicion that he was involved in several crimes.

The Cybercrime Prevention Act was passed into law on Sept. 12, 2012, and took effect on Oct. 3, 2012.

Rappler, however, updated the story on Feb. 19, 2014, making it 鈥渁ctionable,鈥� according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), which approved the filing of charges against Ressa.

Letter to President

The World Association of 黑料社papers and 黑料社 Publishers (WAN-Ifra) and the World Editors Forum wrote a joint letter to Mr. Duterte expressing concern that the charges against Ressa were 鈥減olitically motivated.鈥�

鈥淲e are seriously concerned that the charges are politically motivated and form part of a systematic campaign by the government to use the law as a weapon to silence Rappler鈥檚 reporting, which has often been critical of your presidency,鈥� the international press groups said.

鈥淲e would also like to remind you that bringing charges for a crime that was not enacted at the time of the alleged infraction is not only a legal absurdity, it also risks rendering the Cybercrime Prevention Act unconstitutional, as it would become an 鈥榚x post facto鈥� law,鈥� they said.

Amnesty International condemned the arrest of Ressa on what the group called 鈥渢rumped-up libel charge.鈥�

鈥淭his is brazenly politically motivated, and consistent with the authorities鈥� threats and repeated targeting of Ressa and her team. Authorities should end this harassment, drop the charges, and repeal this repressive law,鈥� Butch Olano, Amnesty International director for the Philippines, said in a statement.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also called on Philippine authorities to immediately release Ressa and drop all pending charges against her.

鈥淲e call on Filipino authorities to immediately release Ressa, drop this spurious cyberlibel charge, and cease and desist this campaign of intimidation aimed at silencing Rappler,鈥� said Shawn Crispin, CPJ senior Southeast Asian representative.

Gov鈥檛 鈥榙esperate鈥�

Agnes Callamard, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, tweeted: 鈥淎nd another terrible nail in the coffin. #Philippines Maria, I am thinking of you. You can count on me. You can count on us. #pressfreedom.鈥�

CNN鈥檚 Christiane Amanpour described Ressa鈥檚 arrest as a 鈥渄esperate鈥� move by the Duterte administration.

鈥淵ou know a government is desperate when they arrest a journalist. President Duterte: FREE 鈥渕ariaressa NOW,鈥� Amanpour tweeted.

In a statement, the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said the charges against Ressa were 鈥渃learly manipulated鈥� and 鈥減art of the administration鈥檚 obsession to shut Rappler down and intimidate the rest of the independent Philippine media into toeing the line.鈥�

Speaking to reporters after her release, Ressa said her arrest meant one thing: 鈥淭hey want us (journalists) to be scared.鈥�

Ressa blamed her arrest on Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, who approved the filing of charges against her.

鈥淪ecretary Guevarra, these are your actions,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want to be known as the secretary of injustice. I鈥檓 a citizen of this country and you cannot violate my rights.鈥�

鈥楢 country of laws鈥�

Commenting on the references to the freedom of expression, Malaca帽ang said the case brought against Ressa had nothing to do with it.

鈥淔reedom of expression, as critics of [President Duterte鈥檚] administration erroneously suggest, is absolutely unrelated to Ms Ressa鈥檚 probable violation of the country鈥檚 laws,鈥� presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a statement on Wednesday night after Ressa鈥檚 arrest.

鈥淲e are a country of laws and every citizen must adhere to the rule of law. No one is above the law, not even high-profile, self-anointed crusading journalists,鈥� Panelo said.

Lawmakers on Thursday came to Ressa鈥檚 defense, warning that her arrest was curtailment of free speech and erosion of democracy.

Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the Senate public information committee, said she hoped the courts would follow the proper processes in handling Ressa鈥檚 case.

Dangers of muted press

Poe also warned of the dangers of a muted press.

鈥淚 think we should fear more if the press is silenced because it鈥檚 really through the freedom of speech that we are able to guard the different institutions in government and we are able to uphold democracy in our country,鈥� she said.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros said Ressa鈥檚 arrest was the 鈥渓atest display of Duterte鈥檚 authoritarian tendencies, and much like other would-be dictators, his distaste for the free and principled press.鈥�

In a dispatch from her detention cell in Camp Crame, Quezon City, Sen. Leila de Lima said truth tellers were being persecuted, and that it infuriated her that Ressa鈥檚 arrest came days before the country celebrated its return to democracy during the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution.

Sen. Francis Pangilinan called Ressa鈥檚 arrest harassment and said the administration was going after the institutions that could stand up to its abuse of power.

Sen. Francis Escudero said the government must not try to muzzle the press.

鈥淓very government needs a free and unbridled press and should avoid sending/creating a chilling effect on members of the media,鈥� Escudero tweeted. 鈥擱EPORTS FROM AIE BALAGTAS SEE, MELVIN GASCON, CHRISTINE O. AVENDA脩O, LEILA B. SALAVERRIA, KRISSY AGUILAR, INQUIRER RESEARCH AND AFP