US EditionPhilippine court convicts journalist of terror financing charge in ruling condemned by media groups
Frenchie Mae Cumpio was sentenced to 12 to 18 years for financing terrorism in a case criticized as a violation of press freedom by international groups and the UN.
- On Thursday, community journalist and radio broadcaster Frenchie Cumpio, 26, and former roommate Marielle Domequil were found guilty and sentenced to up to 18 years by Judge Georgina Uy Perez at the Tacloban regional court.
- After their February 2020 arrest on weapons charges involving a handgun and grenade, authorities added a terror-financing charge more than a year later, while the UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan and Clooney Foundation for Justice monitored the case.
- Court records show the pair were acquitted on a lesser weapons charge, while outside the courthouse, riot police blocked supporters including Cumpio's mother, Lala, from the courtyard.
- Human rights groups including the Clooney Foundation for Justice questioned the lengthy detainment, and Beh Lih Yi, Asia-Pacific director, Committee to Protect Journalists, condemned the decision on Thursday.
- Observers warned the ruling `underscores the lengths that Philippine authorities are willing to go to silence critical reporting`, with the terror-financing charge carrying a potential 40-year sentence.
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72 Articles
Accused of financing a communist rebellion, Frenchie Mae Cumpio was sentenced to a minimum sentence of 12 years. His trial is denounced as manipulation by Reporters Without Borders.
Frenchie Mae Cumpio case: Who is Tacloban City RTC Judge Georgina Perez?
Tacloban City Regional Trial Court Branch 45 Judge Georgina Perez convicted 26-year-old Frenchie Mae Cumpio of terrorism financing, but acquitted her in the illegal possession of firearms and explosives case. Lay worker Marielle Domequil, 28, also received the same sentence. The two have been in jail for nearly six years, following their arrest on February 7, 2020, at the office of alternative news outlet Eastern Vista in Tacloban City, together…
readingeagle
Boston HeraldBy JIM GOMEZ MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine court on Thursday convicted a Filipina journalist of financing terrorism, a verdict condemned by press freedom advocates but welcomed by anti-communist officials fighting the insurgency. Presiding Judge Georgina Perez of the Regional Court of First Instance in the central city of Tacloban sentenced Frenchie Mae Cumpio and human rights missionary Marielle Domequil — who have been in prison for …
Ottumwa Courier
Philippine court convicts journalist of terror financing charge in ruling condemned by media groups
A Philippine court has found a Filipina journalist guilty of financing terrorism in a verdict that was condemned by press freedom watchdogs but welcomed by anti-communist insurgency officials. The presiding judge of the Regional Trial Court in central Tacloban city…
The charges against Frenchy Cubio appear to have been brought "in retaliation for her journalistic work," said the United Nations special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion.
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