Thirty-eight organizations call for freedom of expression and justice in the Ampatuan massacre trial – IFEX
Thirty-six members of the International Freedom of Expression eXchange (IFEX) together with the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) urged members of the Philippine Court of Appeals to “recognize the obligation of the judiciary to uphold the right to freedom of expression, in accordance with the international and constitutional obligations of the Philippines”in a letter dated 1 June 2011.
The group expressed concern over the appellate court’s resolution asking NUJP secretary-general Rowena Paraan and Monette Salaysay, widow of Ampatuan massacre victim Napoleon Salaysay to explain why they should not be cited for contempt after allegedly criticizing the appellate court in a 2 March 2011 demonstration. If found guilty, both Paraan and Salaysay will face imprisonment. (Read more here.)
The letter cited a 10 December 2002 Joint Declaration by the the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media, and the Organisation of American States (OAS) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression saying that: “No restrictions on reporting on ongoing legal proceedings may be justified unless there is a substantial risk of serious prejudice to the fairness of those proceedings and the threat to the right to a fair trial or to the presumption of innocence outweighs the harm to freedom of expression.”
“We accept that there is a need to protect the courts against statements that might undermine the fairness of proceedings, such as intimidation of witnesses. But we feel confident that the Philippine courts are able to withstand strong, even unfair, criticism and yet render justice. This is particularly true where, as is the case here, no jury is involved,” the letter stated.
Click here to read the rest of the letter.
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