(Eagle News)—-A Manila court has reset the arraignment of Rappler’s executive editor Maria Ressa and former reporter Reynaldo Santos for cyber libel.
Instead of Friday, March 1, Branch 46 Judge Rainelda Estacio-Montesa rescheduled the same to April 12 at 8:30 a.m., and ordered the prosecution to comment on Ressa’s and Santos’ motion to quash within 10 days.
In their motion filed early this week, Ressa and Santos argued the information against them does not cite an offense, and the multiple republication rule cited by the Department of Justice in justifying the filing of the information for violation of the Cybercrime Prevention Act applied only to print media.
It also argued the cyber libel law was subjected to a temporary restraining order at the time the Rappler article in question was republished.
The judge also ordered the defense to file its reply five days after the filing of the comment, and the prosecution to submit a rejoinder to the reply five days after.
The charges for cyber libel were filed by businessman Wilfredo Keng, who was described in the Rappler article published in 2012 as a “controversial businessman” with “alleged links” to human trafficking, murder, among others.
Keng has denied the allegations against him in the article, which was edited in 2014.
