International Press Institute (IPI)

This was the second time in recent months that a cyber libel charge was filed against Filipino-American journalist Maria Ressa, the founder of news portal ‘Rappler’.

“The monitoring of private communications and bank data from journalists is unprecedented and represents a gross violation of journalists’ rights to source confidentiality and professional secrecy, which are protected under both the Portuguese Constitution and international law”.

According to IPI’s COVID-19 Press Freedom Tracker, nearly 200 violations linked to the pandemic were reported from the Asia-Pacific region, of which 107 were from four South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Nepal.

Thirty-eight months after the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, rights organisations reiterate that a fully independent and transparent public inquiry is key to achieving justice for Daphne’s assassination and ensuring that this will never happen again.

IPI: “Journalists have a right to document the actions of the police as a matter of public interest, and these detentions are a violation of the public’s right to know. Authorities must also immediately investigate reports of journalists being assaulted by police, including while in custody.”

“While the situation in the courts remains critical with up to 79 journalists currently in prison, the last year has seen the battleground over freedom of expression shift from the courtroom to the regulators who have ramped up their punishments for print and broadcast media.”

Freelance journalist Ronnie Villamor, who was covering a land dispute in Masbate Province, was shot dead by soldiers in an ‘encounter’. Four journalists have been killed this year in the Philippines.

“SLAPPs are a far less barbaric means of silencing someone than a car bomb or a bullet to the head, but their silencing effect is often just as destructive.”