Lawyer for Philippines’ Nobel Peace Prize winner Ressa ‘confident’ about Oslo trip
- Marie Ressa, co-founder of Rappler website and critic of President Duterte, applied to three courts for permission to travel to December 10 ceremony
- She was awarded the prize in October for efforts to ‘safeguard freedom of expression’; still waiting for one court to rule, but ‘green light’ from other two
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The former CNN correspondent, who is on bail pending an appeal against a conviction last year in a cyber libel case, applied to three courts for permission to travel to Norway for the December 10 ceremony.
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Philippine journalist Maria Ressa wins 2021 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Russia’s Dmitry Muratov
The Court of Appeals, which is handling the cyber libel case, on Friday gave her the green light after rejecting government lawyers’ claims that she was a “flight risk”.
Ressa has already received permission from a regional trial court hearing another case, according to Francis Lim, one of her lawyers.
She is still waiting for the Court of Tax Appeals to rule on her travel application, but Lim said: “We are confident that it will be granted.”
‘Flight risk’: Philippines opposes Nobel winner Maria Ressa going to Norway
Ressa has been a staunch critic of President Rodrigo Duterte and his government’s policies, including a drug war that has killed thousands.
Since Duterte was swept to power in 2016, Ressa and Rappler have endured what media advocates say is a grinding series of criminal charges, investigations and online attacks.
‘Thank you Duterte’: Ressa’s Nobel Peace Prize win stuns Philippines
She faces a total of seven court cases, including the appeal against a conviction in the cyber libel case, for which she faces up to six years in prison.
Ressa, who is also a US citizen, returned to the Philippines on Thursday after a court-approved trip to the United States.
