MANILA: A Philippine court on Tuesday acquitted Nobel laureate Maria Ressa in a final tax evasion charge, western media reported.
The 59-year-old, who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov in 2021, has been contesting multiple cases filed during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s administration.
Ressa, open critic of former President Duterte’s policies
Ressa has been openly criticizing Duterte’s policies and the deadly drug war. She has long maintained that the cases against her and her co-founded news website Rappler were politically motivated.
Maria Ressa founded Rappler in 2021 along with a group of fellow Filipino journalists as well as technopreneurs.
Ressa had faced five government charges of tax evasion from the 2015 sale of Philippine depositary receipts. This is a way for companies to raise money from foreign investors.
A court acquitted her on four of the charges in January. The fifth charge was heard by a different court, which also acquitted her.
Ressa despite the acquittals faces an uncertain future as she battles another two court cases.
