Ressa arraignment reset to May 17
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2019 03:47:59 +0000
THE Manila court presiding over the cyber libel case of journalist Maria Ressa and another individual reset their arraignment to May 17.
Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 gave Ressa, chief executive officer of news site Rappler, and its former researcher Reynaldo Santos Jr. 10 days to seek a motion for reconsideration on her decision to dismiss their petition to drop the charges against them.
The Department of Justice (DoJ)
accused Ressa and Santos of violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 over a supposedly libelous article titled “CJ using SUVs of ‘controversial’ businessman,” published on May 29, 2012.
The ‘CJ’ the article referred to was the late chief justice Renato Corona. And the vehicle he allegedly used during his impeachment trial belonged to William Keng who denied the Rappler story and consequently filed a cyber libel case against Ressa and Santos.
The statute was enacted four months before the alleged offense was committed.
The counsel of Ressa and Santos, Free Legal Assistance Group’s Theodore Te, told reporters that their position remained the same— the prescription period for libel is one year, not 12 years.
Te also said that from October 9, 2012 continuously until April 22, 2014, “there was effectively no Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012,” meaning no law could be applied retroactively because it was under a temporary restraining order.
Montesa said only the implementation of the law was on the TRO, not its effectivity.
Te added that his clients would raise new arguments.
Ressa appeared before the RTC Branch 46 for her arraignment on Tuesday morning.
Ressa maintained this case was “incredibly important” because it was not just about Rappler, but about “anyone who posts on the web.”
Rappler is facing 11 cases filed by the Philippine government, all of which, according to her, were “ridiculous and we will fight them in court.”
Ressa has posted bail eight times and arrested twice in five weeks.
“I am just a journalist trying to do my job and I ask the government to let us do that. They should not be afraid of being held to account, of being asked to explain their actions to the Filipino people,” she said.
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