MANILA, March 25 -- The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled to allow United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression Irene Khan to file a pleading as an "amicus curiae" or "friend of the court" in the cyberlibel case of online publisher Maria Ressa.

The Court of Appeals (CA) affirmed in 2022 a Manila regional trial court decision against Ressa and her former researcher, Reynaldo Santos Jr., sentencing them to up to six years imprisonment over a cyberlibel complaint by businessman Wilfredo Keng.

Keng sued Ressa for a 2012 article in her online news outfit that alleged he lent a sports utility vehicle to the late former chief justice Renato Corona.

Khan said the anti-cybercrime law "fails to adequately protect the right to freedom of...