Philippine Nobel laureate Maria Ressa plans to appeal her cyber libel conviction at the country’s Supreme Court, her lawyer said Tuesday, after losing her legal battle and having months added to her sentence.
The appeals court in its October 10 decision upheld its earlier ruling that affirmed a lower court’s conviction, and added eight months to her six-year jail sentence. Ressa remains free during her appeals process.
Lawyer Theodore Te called the outcome “disappointing”, adding it “ignored…the evidence presented.”
Ressa and former Rappler researcher and writer Reynaldo Santos were convicted in June 2020 in a cyber libel case brought by a businessman over an online article in 2012 by Rappler that linked him to illegal activities.
The court at the time ruled Rappler, a news site known for its investigative journalism, had not given the businessman a chance to refute the allegations in its story, despite him contacting Rappler asking to give his side.
Ressa, a dual US-Filipino citizen, is head of Rappler, which earned a reputation for its in-depth reporting and tough scrutiny of then President Rodrigo Duterte. She said the case is an attempt to harass her.
