Maria Ressa, a veteran journalist and Nobel laureate widely considered the “face of the free press in the Philippines”, has been acquitted of tax evasion charges, in a case she has described as part of a pattern of harassment.
Speaking to the press after the verdict, an emotional Ressa said the charges against her and her news outlet, Rappler, had been an abuse of power, politically motivated, and designed to stop journalists from doing their jobs.
