Journalist and prominent critic of President Rodrigo Duterte, Maria Ressa has been released on bail by Philippine authorities after being arrested in Manila on Friday, her second detention in what press freedom advocates have said is retaliation for her news site's criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Ressa was arrested on the grounds that the news site violated laws on foreign ownership of media.
These charges come six weeks after the National Bureau of Investigation in the Philippines arrested her under the charge of ‘cyber libel’.
The Alliance For Journalists’ Freedom is calling for both charges to be dropped.
The veteran reporter, named a Time Magazine Person of the Year in 2018, was taken into custody by authorities in Manila, said Rappler co-founder Beth Frondoso.
"They got her at the airport," Frondoso told AFP. "We will be filing bail."
On Wednesday, police announced they had filed more criminal charges against the veteran reporter – six weeks after she was detained and then released.
The charges have sent shockwaves through the Philippine media scene, prompting allegations journalists are being targeted for their work.
The journalist had previously been arrested and released on bail. Source: AAP
Eleven legal cases have been filed against Rappler since January 2018.
AJF spokesperson, Professor Peter Greste, who has met with Ms. Ressa several times including last year at the Rappler office, said that both charges are an attempt by the authorities to silence a courageous, professional news organisation for its coverage of the government.
“Democracy unravels when governments suppress press freedom,” Greste said. ”It has to be defended to hold the powerful to account, to keep the public informed and for a healthy society overall. We cannot ignore this.”
Ressa is the chief executive and editor of online news site Rappler, which has reported extensively on Duterte's deadly anti-drugs crackdown that has claimed thousands of lives and which rights groups say may be a crime against humanity.
A Rappler journalist told ABC News that Ressa had said she will not stop reporting, "no matter how many cases that the government files against her or Rappler".
"We will hold the line and we will continue to publish stories that matter to the Filipino people."
The narcotics crackdown is Duterte's signature initiative and he fiercely defends it against criticism.
High-profile critics have wound up in jail or been pushed out of their jobs in government, including the nation's first female chief justice of the Supreme Court.
Ressa has accused Duterte of using prosecutions against her, including ongoing cases of alleged tax evasion and libel, to silence critics and intimidate the press.
She insists the site is not anti-Duterte, saying it is just doing its job to hold the government to account.
Ressa, together with six other current and former Rappler board members and editors, has now been accused of securities fraud.
She was taken into custody on a charge that she allowed her name to be used to circumvent a Philippine law against foreign ownership of media properties, a charge that stems from a 2015 investment into Rappler.
Under the constitution, the media is an economic sector which is reserved for Filipinos or Filipino-controlled entities.
This latest case comes after Ressa as well as current and former associates of Rappler were hit by government prosecutors with tax and securities fraud charges.
The country's corporate regulator revoked Rappler's business licence last year over the bond sale, but the site continued operating as it appealed the case in the courts.
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has previously lashed out at critical media outfits. Source: AFP
Philippine authorities arrested Ressa in February on an internet libel charge, which sparked international condemnation and allegations that she was being targeted for Rappler's critical stance on Duterte.
"This case against Ressa... is unprecedented and speaks volumes of the Duterte administration's determination to shut the website down for its credible and consistent reporting on the government," said Carlos Conde of Human Rights Watch.
Ressa's legal team said this latest case would not stop Rappler from doing its work.
"Let it be clear that these acts of harassment will not deter our clients from doing their duty as journalists," legal counsel Francis Lim said in a statement. "We believe in the rule of law."
