The first Filipino to win a Nobel prize, journalist Maria Ressa was honoured by peace prize jurors in Norway for refusing to back down when covering the deadly drug war in her country.
The UN says the drugs purge led by President Rodrigo Duterte led to the deaths of thousands of people after police forces received an implicit “permission to kill”.
Mr Duterte has lashed out directly at Ressa’s news site, Rappler, which he described as a “fake news outlet” for a story about one of his closest aides.
Nobel jurors said Ressa, 58, had used her coverage to “expose abuse of power, use of violence and authoritarianism in her native country”.
They praised her for documenting how social media was used to spread fake news, harass opponents and manipulate public debate.
A journalist for more than 30 years, Ressa co-founded Rappler in 2012 after previously working for CNN in the Philippines and Indonesia. She has written books about Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda.
The Nobel prize, which she shared with Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov, is the latest in a series of honours for Ressa. She was a Time Person of the Year in 2018 and was later named as one of the BBC’s 100 most inspiring and influential women.
In April, UN cultural agency Unesco awarded her its annual press freedom prize for what it said was her “unerring fight for freedom of expression”.
But her work has left her embroiled in legal battles, which she regards as an effort to silence her, although the Philippine government says it is not behind them.
Ms Ressa has described the series of libel cases as an “ongoing campaign of harassment and intimidation against me and Rappler”.
-
Malala Yousafzai became the youngest person to receive this prize in 2014. Getty Images -
Swiss philanthropist Jean Henri Dunant was one of the first to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1901 for his role in the founding of the International Red Cross. Getty Images -
Belgian Dominican friar Dominique Pire's (right) work helping refugees in post-World War II Europe saw him receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1958. Getty Images -
American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., left, announced that he would turn over the prize money to the furtherance of the civil rights movement. Getty Images -
Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work with the poor in 1979. Getty Images -
South African Archbishop Mgr Desmond Tutu, left, was honored with the Peace Prize for his opposition to apartheid. AFP -
Guatemalan Indian activist Rigoberta Menchu, right, was the ninth woman to win the award. AFP -
From left: Palestinian leader Yaser Arafat, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin are the joint Nobel Peace Prize winners for 1994 for their efforts to create peace in the Middle East. Getty Images -
President of the UN General Assembly, South Korean Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo, right, looks at Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan at the Nobel Peace Awards in 2001. The prize was awarded to Annan for his work as secretary-general and the UN represented by Han Seung-soo. AFP -
Iranian lawyer and human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, right, receives the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize for her democracy-building efforts and her work to improve human rights in Iran, making her the first Muslim woman to receive the award. AFP -
Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, left, and Yukiya Amano, chairman of its board of governors, received the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony for their efforts to halt the spread of nuclear weapons. AFP -
US President Barack Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize "for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." AFP -
Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad have been jointly awarded the 2018 Nobel peace prize in recognition for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon in war. Getty Images
In one case, she is appealing against a conviction for cyber libel that could lead to her being her jailed for six years. Two other cases were dismissed this year, while Rappler has faced further struggles over its operating licence and tax affairs.
In addition to the legal sagas, she has described receiving up to 90 hate messages an hour on Facebook because of her public profile.
But savouring her Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, she said she and her colleagues would “just keep doing what we’re doing”.
“Nothing is possible without facts,” she said. “A world without facts means a world without truth and trust.”
She smiled as she said: “This is the best time to be a journalist. The times when it’s most dangerous are the times when it’s most important.”
