Maria Ressa - Reuters
PETALING JAYA: The Philippine government must refrain from any form of intimidation against the media, said the Asia News Network (ANN) in condemning the arrest of veteran journalist Maria Ressa (pic).
It said Ressa’s arrest violated the freedom that was crucial to media organisations to have and to play their part as a key pillar in functioning democracies.
“This is particularly important in Asia where systems of democratic representation, accountability and legal recourse are at various stages of nascent development, with much room for improvement and need for safeguarding.
“We are seriously disturbed by the manner of her arrest and we urge the Philippine government to refrain from any form of intimidation against the media.
“As Asia’s leading alliance of 23 news media, we urge President Rodrigo Duterte and his government to be fair and impartial in the treatment of media organisations in his country.
“The people of the Philippines, and the media that serves them, deserve no less,” it said in a statement on Thursday (Feb 14).
Ressa, the head of Philippine news site Rappler, was arrested on Wednesday (Feb 13) at her office on a cyber-libel charge with the arrest warrant served close to 5pm when courts were about to close.
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