Philippine justice authorizes Maria Ressa to receive Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo
The Court of Appeal of the Philippines allowed today (3) the journalist Maria Ressa to travel to Norway for the awarding ceremony of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, on the next 10th.
The court's ruling allows Ressa to be in Oslo for five days, Dec. 8-13, reported the Rappler website, of which she is the founder and executive director.
Ressa was recognized with the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize, along with Russian reporter Dmitry Muratov, for her efforts "to safeguard freedom of expression" in their countries.
The journalist needs court authorization to leave the country, as she is involved in several lawsuits in the Philippines as a result of her findings on the bloody war on drugs launched in 2016 by President Rodrigo Duterte.
A week ago, the Philippine Attorney General, José Calida, appealed to the court so that the journalist could travel to Oslo to receive the award, denied on the grounds that it was a "risk trip".
The United Nations (UN) had called on the Philippine government to authorize Ressa to travel to receive the Nobel.
The journalist, who is facing six criminal cases for alleged tax evasion and violation of media property laws, was convicted in June 2020 of cyber-defamation by a Philippine court.
Ressa faces up to six years in prison for that case, although it is currently on appeal, a sentence that could run to several decades if convicted on the other financial charges.
She has been subjected to a campaign of judicial harassment since she began investigating Duterte's drug war and because of her fight against disinformation and false news.
Text translated using artificial intelligence.
