Maria Ressa: Head of Philippines news site Rappler arrested

[JHan]

Source: BBC

The CEO of Rappler, a news website critical of the government in the Philippines, has been arrested at its headquarters in Manila.

Maria Ressa said the accusation of "cyber-libel" is an attempt by President Rodrigo Duterte's government to silence the publication.

It is the latest in a string of different allegations against her.

The president, who calls the site "fake news", has previously denied charges against her are politically motivated.

Rappler journalists live-streamed the arrest on Facebook and Twitter.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-47225217?SThisFB&fbclid=IwAR0QI9KCRFrCK6jymwijbfhkC9vX0KdxeYJooTSdqXkPOA9OcmYrt7pn14A

[yaesu]

1. this is what tRump would like to do and has tried to do by inciting violence against the press. nt

[JHan]

2. and he loves dictators

[Canoe52]

3. tRumps kinda guy, will the orange man tweet out an amen about this?

[SunSeeker]

4. K & R for exposure.

[lunasun]

5. Trump love to Duerte for playing this out no doubt

[C Moon]

6. Wow. Even using Trump's terminology. Trump must be green and orange with envy.

I wonder if that president has any connections with Putin.

[okaawhatever]

7. K & R NT

[Blue_Tires]

8. Greenwald and Snowden were unavailable for comment

[Eugene]

9. The U.S. is silent as the Philippines arrests a leading journalist

Source: Washington Post

The U.S. is silent as the Philippines arrests a leading journalist

By Frida Ghitis
Contributing columnist
February 13 at 4:45 PM

You may have seen Maria Ressa in Times Square this past New Year’s Eve, when she was honored for her defense of a free press. Today, she turned up in footage of a very different kind, when journalists from her news site, Rappler, livestreamed videos of her arrest. Plainclothes government security officers entered the newsroom today and served her with an arrest warrant on trumped-up defamation charges from a government determined to silence her.

Ressa — who was my colleague back when we both worked at CNN a few years ago — has become one of the most visible defenders of press freedom anywhere. And though the government of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte is going to great lengths to stop her, it’s also inadvertently making sure the entire world keeps a close eye on her fate.

As well we should. Ressa, one of Rappler’s co-founders, is fighting for the right to give citizens access to fact-based journalism unfettered by government intimidation. But you don’t have to be from the Philippines to understand that we all have a stake in the outcome.

Duterte, who has unleashed an extrajudicial war on drugs that has left thousands of people dead, cannot stand the scrutiny of journalists. “Just because you’re a journalist,” he snapped during a news conference, “you’re not exempted from assassination.” Filipino journalists fear the president wants his supporters to start killing journalists.

Normally the United States would be at the forefront of global condemnation of Duterte’s persecution of Ressa and other Filipino journalists. But President Trump is apparently an admirer of Duterte, with whom he claims to have “a great relationship.” He may, in fact, find it pleasing to know that his Philippines counterpart has referred to Rappler as a “fake news outlet," while Duterte’s supporters set up real false news sites that Facebook blocked. In a recent interview in the Oval Office, Trump was asked if he knew the impact his attacks on the media are having on press freedom around the world. He seemed to exult in the use of the label: “’I do notice that people are declaring more and more fake news, where they go, ‘Fake news!’”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/13/us-is-silent-philippines-arrests-leading-journalist/

[JHan]

10. smh. yeah there won't be any statement I think.

[Eugene]

11. Rappler editor Maria Ressa freed on bail after outcry

Source: The Guardian

Rappler editor Maria Ressa freed on bail after outcry

Philippines journalist targeted by President Duterte says cyber-liber case is‘politically motivated’ while US senator condemns ‘trumped-up charges’

Hannah Ellis-Petersen south-east Asia correspondent
Thu 14 Feb 2019 05.54 GMT

Maria Ressa, the editor of an online news outlet critical of the Philippines’ president, Rodrigo Duterte, has been released on bail after she was arrested on Wednesday.

Ressa was arrested at the headquarters of Rappler, the news site she founded, by four plainclothes officers and brought to the National Bureau of Investigation where she was held on charges of cyber-libel.

The charges, which Ressa said were “politically motivated”, relate to a story published in 2012 about a Philippine businessman and his allegedly corrupt connections to a top court judge. However, Ressa said that the case was part of a wider government campaign to intimidate and harass media outlets. The law being used against Ressa and Rappler was brought in four months after the story was published.

Ressa, who was named a Time Person of the year in 2018, posted bail of 100,000 Philippine pesos (£1,400) on Thursday morning and was released.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/14/rappler-editor-maria-ressa-freed-on-bail-after-outcry