Rappler CEO and Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa gestures after a Manila court acquitted her from a tax evasion case, outside the Court of Tax Appeals in Quezon City, Philippines, Jan 18, 2023. (ELOISA LOPEZ / REUTERS)
MANILA – Philippine Nobel laureate Maria Ressa and her news site Rappler were acquitted by a court of tax evasion charges on Wednesday, a judge said, handing Ressa a victory in a case the veteran journalist has described as part of a pattern of harassment.
Ressa, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize alongside a Russian journalist in 2021, is head of Rappler, which earned a reputation for its in-depth reporting and tough scrutiny of former president Rodrigo Duterte and his deadly war on drugs.
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"This acquittal is not just for Rappler it is for every Filipino who has ever been unjustly accused," Ressa said after the verdict, describing it as a win for justice and the truth.
Philippine Nobel laureate Maria Ressa, 59 is currently on bail as she appeals a six-year prison sentence handed down in 2020 for a libel conviction
"These charges… were politically motivated… A brazen abuse of power," she said.
The tax evasion case stemmed from accusations by the state revenue agency that Rappler had omitted from its tax returns the proceeds of a 2015 sale of depositary receipts to foreign investors, which later became the securities regulator's basis to revoke its license.
The Philippine's justice department said it respected the decision of the court.
Ressa, 59 is currently on bail as she appeals a six-year prison sentence handed down in 2020 for a libel conviction.
She has been fighting a string of government lawsuits that have stoked international concern about media harassment in the Philippines.