By AFP More by this AuthorManilaHigh-profile Philippine journalist Maria Ressa has been convicted in a cyber libel case that press freedom advocates have branded a ploy to silence critics of President Rodrigo Duterte. "We are going to stand up against any kind of attacks against press freedom," Ressa told journalists after the conviction in Manila. "I've been the cautionary tale: be quiet or you're next... that's part of the reason why I have been targeted," Ressa, a co-founder of Rappler and a former CNN journalist, told AFP in an exclusive interview last week. Duterte's government has said the case is not politically motivated and that authorities must enforce the law, even against journalists. In 2018, Duterte denounced Rappler as a "fake news outlet" and subsequently banned Ressa and her colleagues from his public engagements.

Source: Daily Nation June 15, 2020 04:41 UTC