Filipino Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa will be leaving for Oslo any time Tuesday or Wednesday to receive her award in person after a third court approved her application to attend the ceremony on Friday, December 10.
She was quoted by AFP on Tuesday saying that she felt “great” after clearing the final legal hurdle.
The Court of Appeals, which is handling a cyber libel case against the journalist, approved last week her trip after rejecting government lawyers’ claims that she was a “flight risk.”
Ressa, an outspoken critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, was named in October as one of the winners of this year’s award for her 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.
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, including the appeal against the conviction in the cyber libel case, for which she faces up to six years in prison. – with a report from AFP
