Trial To Open For Philippine Journalist Critical Of Duterte

Manila, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jul, 2019 ) :High-profile Philippine journalist Maria Ressa's libel trial opens Tuesday in a case that press freedom advocates see as government retaliation for her news site's critical reporting on President Rodrigo Duterte.

Ressa, who leads online outlet Rappler and was named a Time Magazine "Person of the Year" in 2018 for her journalism, is out on bail and faces years in prison if convicted.

This case is among a string of criminal charges that have hit Ressa and Rappler over the past year, prompting allegations that authorities are targeting her and her team for their work, The news portal has reported extensively and often critically on Duterte's policies, including a deadly crackdown that rights groups say may be a crime against humanity.

"The message that the government is sending is very clear," Ressa told reporters in February as she posted bail after spending the night in jail over the libel case: "Be silent or you're next."The case that opens Tuesday centres on a Rappler report from 2012 about a businessman's alleged ties to a then-judge of the nation's top court.

Government investigators initially dismissed the businessman's 2017 complaint about the article, but state prosecutors later decided to file charges.