Amal Clooney Protects Journalists. We Asked Her About Asia's Shrinking Press Freedom.

High-profile human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, along with members of her international legal team, have expressed concern about the state of press freedom in Southeast Asia at a recent press conference. 

Clooney, who is defending Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Ressa against a slew of charges stemming from her outspoken journalism in the Philippines, was speaking as part of a private media panel held on Nov. 22 with reporters ahead of the country’s upcoming elections. 

“Maria is one journalist but let’s be clear because for every Maria, there are hundreds of others who will choose to be silent rather than confront what she faces,” Clooney said, adding that remaining silent was “completely understandable” given the state of declining press freedom and “unprecedented threats” towards journalists in the region. 

“That’s the reason why Maria’s courage is so exemplary,” she said, pointing to the 21 journalists who have been “murdered with impunity” in the Philippines since President Rodrigo Duterte took power in 2016. 

The pandemic has only accelerated press freedom crackdowns by authoritarian governments across Southeast Asia, with rights groups warning about the erosion of free speech and expression.

“As the pandemic worsened in many countries, Southeast Asian authoritarian regimes and powers only became more emboldened in using emergency powers and public health measures to justify crackdowns on free speech,” Roger Huang, a Sydney-based politics lecturer at the Macquarie University, previously told VICE World News.

Addressing questions from VICE World News, Clooney spoke about the impact of colonial-era laws on freedom of expression in the region. Myanmar, in particular, has used this outdated legislation to brutal effect, clamping down hard on free press in recent years. 

Clooney raised the cases of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, who she represented after they were arrested and jailed in Myanmar in 2017 while working on an investigation into the killing of Rohingya Muslims. They were charged under the colonial era Official Secrets Act.

She also celebrated the release of U.S. journalist Danny Fenster in Myanmar on Nov. 15, who had been held by the military since May and was charged with sedition under the country’s colonial-era Unlawful Associations Act. 

“It’s time to reform colonial-era laws that are at the heart of many of these cases which include lese-majeste and sedition, and criminal defamation,” Clooney said. “These issues cut across many countries in Southeast Asia at the moment.” 

She also added that she was “paying particular attention” to a “slew of cases in Thailand dealing with protesters, lawyers and others.” 

Working with Clooney, UK-based rights lawyer Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC told VICE World News that it was important for government officials in the Philippines, as well as the rest of Southeast Asia, to “set the right precedent” to protect journalists. 

“This is not just being about [journalists] like Maria in the Philippines, but also many outside the Philippines in the region,” Gallagher said.

“The themes we see in Maria’s case are themes we also see across the world.” 

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