The journalist faced numerous legal troubles under former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (2016-2022), whose bloody anti-drug policy she virulently criticized.
Published
Update
Reading time :
1 minute
:quality(50)/2023/09/12/000-33uy3gv-650019c420020863654868.jpg)
Filipino journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa was acquitted on Tuesday September 12 in Manila (Philippines) of the last charge of tax evasion for which she was being prosecuted. She still faces a long prison sentence in other proceedings.
The co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021, with the Russian Dmitri Mouratov, smiled when the judge read the verdict, who also acquitted Rappler, the online media of which she is the co-founder and which notably brought to light the bloody excesses of the anti-drug policy of the previous head of state. “You have to have faith”commented Maria Ressa, 59, leaving the court.
“Triumph of facts over politics”
The Filipino journalist faced numerous legal troubles under former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (2016-2022), whose bloody anti-drug policy she virulently criticized. Maria Ressa and Rappler faced five tax evasion charges after the 2015 sale of certificates of deposit, a way for companies to raise money from foreign investors.
Last January, a court acquitted Rappler and the journalist of the first four charges, and another court exonerated them on the fifth on Tuesday. “Today we celebrate the triumph of facts over politics”welcomed Rappler in a press release.