#HoldTheLine coalition welcomes reprieve for Maria Ressa, demands all other charges and cases be dropped
“Rappler” CEO and Executive Editor Maria Ressa (C), her attorney and a former “Rappler” researcher, after they attend the promulgation for a case of cyber libel filed by Wilfredo Keng, Manila, Philippines, 15 June 2020, Dante Diosina Jr/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Despite the dropping of the second criminal cyberlibel case against Rappler s Maria Ressa, the Filipino-American journalist still faces eight other charges.
This statement was originally published on rsf.org on 1 June 2021.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), as part of the #HoldTheLine (HTL) Coalition, welcomes a Manila court’s decision to dismiss the second criminal cyberlibel charge brought against celebrated American-Filipino journalist Maria Ressa but demands the immediate withdrawal of all other charges and cases filed against Ressa and her news w
Media freedom throughout Europe needs all the support it can get, but the situation in the Balkans is particularly worrying, participants told an online conference "Media Freedom in the Balkans” organised by EURACTIV.
Organisation
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the Qatari authorities to drop the “disinformation” charges they have brought against Malcolm Bidali, a Kenyan blogger they detained for a month for blogging about migrant worker rights, and regrets that this is still such a sensitive subject to cover in Qatar.
Employed as a security guard in Doha, Bidali blogged under the pseudonym of “Noaharticulates” about conditions for himself and other migrant workers in Qatar. He was finally released on 2 June after being arrested on 4 May at the Doha dormitory when he lived. His Twitter and Instagram accounts have been inactive since then.
Normally at this time of year, Hong Kong media would have been bustling to prepare coverage of yesterday’s anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre that, before COVID-19 restrictions hit, usually included a huge vigil in Victoria Park. The event is illegal in China, but had been proudly held in Hong Kong for decades.
This year, journalists at the respected public broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) said they had been told to stand down.
“We were informed that no political story is allowed,” said Emily, an RTHK employee who, along with others interviewed for this article (Ann and Andy, mentioned later), asked