Philippines drops foreign ownership case against Nobel laureate Maria Ressa

Philippines has dismissed the alleged foreign ownership case against Nobel laureate Maria Ressa but the journalist still faces life imprisonment on other charges.

“Again, facts win. Truth wins. Justice wins. We will continue to hold the line,” Ressa said in a statement.

Amal Clooney, the lawyer for the embattled Filipino-American journalist, said it was an “important victory” for Ressa and the country’s freedom of press.

“Maria has spent four years with these baseless charges hanging over her, and we are delighted that they have finally been dismissed," said Clooney, who leads Ressa’s international legal team with human rights lawyer Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC at Doughty Street Chamber, said.

Ressa and her online news organisation Rappler have been fighting multiple charges, including tax evasion charges, pressed against them during president Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.

The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner has maintained the charges against her and the company she co-founded in 2012 were politically motivated.

A Philippine court acquitted Ressa and Rappler of the tax evasion charges in September in a big victory for the journalist.

On Tuesday, the Department of Justice dropped a charge that alleged that Ressa violated federal law by allowing foreign ownership of Rappler with the investment provided in 2015 by an American philanthropic investment fund.

The charge against Ressa and her fellow directors was brought under the Securities Regulation Code and carried a maximum punishment of 21 years of imprisonment.

She still faces the prospect of a maximum 15 years in jail if convicted in an alleged cyber libel case and a separate criminal case arising from the 2015 foreign investment.

“We hope that the remaining charges will now be dropped so that justice can be restored and journalism can thrive in the Philippines,” Clooney said.

Ressa has argued that the investment from United States firm Omidyar Network did not transfer the control of the firm.

Ressa’s lawyers said they are appealing the cyber libel conviction.

This a “campaign of state-sponsored harassment against Ms Ressa and Rappler” and it continues to be widely condemned internationally, including by the UN, the US Department of State and US Congress, the EU and the Media Freedom Coalition of 50 states, her lawyers said.

Ressa, 59, was awarded the Nobel Prize alongside Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov in 2021. Her organisation, Rappler, gained prominence for its critical reporting of former president Duterte and its draconian war on drugs.

The crackdown on the award-winning journalist has put a spotlight on the country’s declining freedom of press.

The Philippines is ranked 132 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index, describing its media as “extremely vibrant despite the government’s targeted attacks and constant harassment” against journalists that are “too critical”.