Philippine Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa gets permission to fly to Oslo to receive award
- The journalist, an outspoken critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, is on bail pending an appeal against a conviction last year in a cyber libel case
- She was required to apply to three courts for permission to pick up the prize in person, and said she feels ‘great’ after clearing the final hurdle
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Ressa, an outspoken critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, and Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov were named in October as the winners of this year’s award for their efforts to “safeguard freedom of expression”.
She is on bail pending an appeal against a conviction last year in a cyber libel case, and was required to apply to three courts for permission to pick up the prize in person.
The Court of Tax Appeals ruled that Ressa, co-founder of news website Rappler, can travel to Norway from December 8 to December 13, according to the decision published on Monday.
The veteran journalist on Tuesday said she felt “great” after clearing the final legal hurdle.
‘Flight risk’: Philippines opposes Nobel winner Maria Ressa going to Norway
The Court of Appeals, which is handling the cyber libel case, last week approved her trip after rejecting government lawyers’ claims that she was a “flight risk”.
Ressa has already received permission from a regional trial court in another case, according to Francis Lim, one of her lawyers.
She faces a total of seven court cases.
They include the appeal against the conviction in the cyber libel case, for which she faces up to six years in prison.
