In an effort to deter the legal persecution of trailblazing journalist and Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa and her former colleague Reynaldo Santos, and to protect the public’s right to be informed, three leading civil society organizations, have submitted an amicus curiae brief [insert link to PDF] to the Supreme Court of the Philippines. The brief was filed on June 13 by the Committee to Protect Journalists (
CPJ), the International Center for Journalists (
ICFJ) and Reporters Without Borders (
RSF) in partnership with
Debevoise and Plimpton LLP. It argues that the criminal convictions of Ressa and Santos for “cyber libel” not only breach the international obligations of the Philippines but betray a press freedom legacy the court has reaffirmed for more than a century.
