Int’l rights group backs massacre widow, journalist

MANILA, Philippines—A New York-based media rights group has warned that court action against the widow of a journalist killed in the Maguindanao massacre and an official of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) who alleged that justices may be on the take to free massacre suspect Zaldy Ampatuan may have a “chilling effect” on the press.

In a recent statement, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was “gravely concerned” by the Court of Appeals’ order to Monette Salaysay and NUJP secretary general Rowena Paraan to explain why they should not be cited for contempt for saying that they had heard that P200 million had changed hands for the dismissal of charges against Ampatuan.

Ampatuan, together with other family members, is a prime suspect in the killing of 57 people in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009.

The CPJ said court action against the two “threatens to curb outside scrutiny of legal proceedings on the Maguindanao massacre, in which 30 journalists and media practitioners were systematically shot and murdered.”

Salaysay is the widow of Mindanao Gazette Publisher editor Napoleon Salaysay, who was among the massacre victims.

Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative, called on the Court of Appeals to “reconsider” its resolution against Salaysay and Paraan.

“(It) threatens to have a chilling effect on those monitoring court proceedings for the Maguindanao massacre. Outside scrutiny of the legal proceedings will be essential to achieving justice in this landmark case. Court justices should uphold, not restrict, victims’ and monitoring groups’ freedom of expression,” Crispin said in the statement.

On April 12, the court’s special fifth division issued a resolution ordering Salaysay and Paraan to explain why they should not be held in contempt for the allegations they made against the court that was published in the Inquirer. They had denounced the alleged “hideous plan” to free Ampatuan, the former governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao,  and cited reports  that money had changed hands.

Ampatuan had filed a petition questioning the Department Justice’s decision to indict him for the massacre.