United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression Irene Khan has denounced the recent decision of the Court of Appeals (CA) to uphold the cyber libel conviction of journalist Maria Ressa, calling for government intervention into the matter and the decriminalization of libel.
In a statement, Khan raised concerns regarding freedom of expression, as she flagged the retroactive application of the laws on the article published on Rappler, a news site headed by Ressa.
“I am also concerned that the 2012 Cybercrime Prevention Act is being applied retroactively in this case, as the Rappler article in question was published before this law was enacted. This is yet another example of the relentless attack against Maria Ressa for daring to speak truth to power,” she added.upheld the 2020 decision of the Manila Regional Trial Court to convict Ressa and former Rappler researcher Rey Santos of cyber libel.
The case was in connection with an article published in Rappler in 2012, months before the Cybercrime Prevention Act was enacted. The article cites an intelligence report that linked businessman Wilfredo Keng, the private complainant, to human trafficking and drug smuggling.
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