UPDATE 15/06/20: Today, a Manila court convicted Maria Ressa and former journalist Reynaldo Santos of cyber libel. Both now face up to six years in prison, and have been ordered to pay nearly USD8000 in damages. Ressa and Santos are being singled out for their critical reporting of the Duterte administration, including ongoing human rights violations in the Philippines. Take action now and call on the conviction to be quashed.

Maria Ressa has helped to expose thousands of murders committed as a result of President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” in the Philippines. She is now facing politically-motivated charges as authorities attempt to scare her into silence.

Since President Duterte came into power in 2016, thousands of poor and marginalised people have been murdered by police and others in extrajudicial killings. Maria and her team at the media outlet Rappler have been tireless in their efforts to investigate and expose this campaign of violence, intimidation and repression — even risking their own safety and freedom to do so.

In February 2018, Maria was banned by Duterte himself from attending press briefings at the presidential palace. In December 2018, Maria and Rappler were targeted with “tax evasion” charges and had their company registration revoked in a blatant attack on free press in the country. They were later cleared of wrongdoing by the Court of Appeals, but the harassment didn’t end there.

In February 2019, Maria was arrested and detained overnight on “cyber-libel” charges. In June 2020 she was convicted of these charges which Maria say is an “abuse of power” and “weaponization of the law”.

The ongoing harassment and arrest of Maria is a disturbing attempt to silence independent journalism in the Philippines. Please join us in calling for the Department of Justice to quash the conviction end to politically-motivated prosecutions.