Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, a leading critic of Rodrigo Duterte, faces third charge of cyber libel

Name: Philippine journalist Maria Ressa pleads not guilty to tax evasion charge
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T14:41:37.000Z
Duration: 1 min 32 s
Description: Philippine journalist Maria Ressa pleads not guilty to tax evasion charge

Ressa was last year convicted on another charge of cyber libel – she is on bail pending an appeal against that verdict, which could see her jailed for six years

She and her news site Rappler face at least a dozen criminal charges stemming from stories critical of Duterte’s policies, including his drug war

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Maria Ressa, CEO and executive editor of Rappler. Photo: EPA

Agence France-Presse

Published: 10:41pm, 14 Jan 2021Updated: 12:00am, 15 Jan 2021

Embattled Philippine journalist Maria Ressa faces a third cyber libel charge, her lawyer said on Thursday, this time for a story about students allegedly paying a professor for passing grades.

Ressa and her news site Rappler face at least a dozen criminal charges and investigations after publishing stories critical of President Rodrigo Duterte’s policies, including his bloody drug war.

“It’s my 10th arrest warrant in less than two years. That’s definitely a pattern of harassment,” Ressa, who Time magazine named Person of the Year in 2018, said on Thursday.

In June, the former CNN correspondent was convicted on another charge of cyber libel; she is on bail pending an appeal against that verdict, which could see her spend up to six years in prison.

She sought last month to have another similar charge quashed as well.

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Philippine journalist Maria Ressa pleads not guilty to tax evasion charge

Ressa and Rappler reporter Rafael Talabong, who also uses the name Rambo, each posted bail of 30,000 pesos (US$625) after they learned that warrants had been issued for their arrest, their lawyer Theodore Te said on Thursday.