Judge in Ressa case recuses self after threatening email

MANILA, Philippines — The judge hearing the second cyberlibel case against Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa has inhibited herself, referring to threats sent by email.

In a Jan. 5 order released on Wednesday, Judge Maria Amifaith Fider-Reyes of the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 147 said she was recusing herself from the case “to avoid the impression that [her] decisions are influenced or affected by the correspondence received from this email address.”

According to Reyes, she first received an email on Dec. 4, 2020, from [email protected] in which the sender threatened to kill her if she would not dismiss the case filed against Ressa by businessman Kerwin Keng.

“I hope you will consider this. I hope it doesn’t have to end badly. Because if not, this may be the only time I may kill someone. I will look for you,” the email read.

The other email sent on Dec. 24, 2020, on the other hand, thanked her for allowing Ressa to travel abroad. “This is a relief for her. Many thanks and Merry Christmas,” the sender wrote.

According to Reyes, “whoever is responsible for this email is severely reprimanded for the lack of respect to the judicial processes.”

In a statement, Ressa denied links to the email sender and even expressed doubt that it was sent by a supporter. “Anyone who knows me knows that I would never condone nor tolerate attempts to manipulate the rule of law.

We call it out every day despite the impunity we see around us. Having received hate messages and death threats myself, I condemn anyone who would do this and empathize with those who have to deal with it,” she said. Former Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te, Ressa’s lawyer, asked the high tribunal to investigate the source of the threat.

Beyond a single case “This goes beyond the case itself because, if the SC does not act, it may end up allowing an end run towards inhibition through unverifiable threats,” he said in a separate statement.

Te noted that at least 54 lawyers, including judges and prosecutors, had been killed since 2016. “The SC should take such threats seriously by investigating if these are legitimate or simply ploys to force an inhibition,” he said. With Reyes inhibiting herself, the case was expected to be reraffled.

During a Dec. 15, 2020, hearing, Reyes granted Ressa’s request to fly to the United States to visit her 76-year-old mother who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Besides the Makati court, the Pasig RTC and Court of Tax Appeals hearing Ressa’s tax cases also gave her permission to leave the country.

However, the Court of Appeals, which is hearing her appeal after she was convicted in the first cyberlibel case filed by Keng in a Manila court, barred her from going abroad. Keng had sued Ressa over a 2012 story on his alleged links to drugs and human trafficking based on intelligence reports.

According to the appellate court, Ressa failed to prove that the trip was “necessary and urgent,” as it said there were “exceptional circumstances” enough to restrict her right to travel.