Amal Clooney to defend journalist Maria Ressa, one of Rodrigo Duterte’s fiercest critics

Prominent rights lawyer Amal Clooney has said she will join the legal team defending Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, whose news site has repeatedly clashed with President Rodrigo Duterte. 

Ressa, who was named a Time magazine "Person of the Year" in 2018 for her journalism, faces several criminal charges along with her website Rappler, in what press freedom advocates have branded an act of "persecution". 

Ressa told the South China Morning Post Clooney was "someone who understands all the twists and turns of the law, politics and human rights and really respects journalists." 

Ressa described her international team, led by Clooney, as "legal luminaries, like the Justice League", and said Clooney would work closely with the team assembled on the ground in the Philippines. 

"It’s like bringing together a think tank of legal minds," she said. "As journalists, we work for justice, and having this team now makes me feel like there has got to be some justice. We’ll do our best to get it." 

Ressa has been arrested twice this year and accused Duterte of using prosecutions against her, including ongoing cases of alleged tax evasion and libel, to silence critics and intimidate the press.