MANILA, Philippines – Rappler and its CEO Maria Ressa were among the “Top 10 Most Urgent” press issues in the world, according to the first list formulated by the One Free Press Coalition.

The One Free Press coalition published the first of what will be a monthly list on Saturday, March 16.

The coalition cited the “arrest and legal threats” against Rappler and Ressa, in light of 6 active court charges, with one more pending before prosecutors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently reevaluating its earlier order to revoke Rappler’s license. The Court of Appeals (CA) has recently upheld its findings that the Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) issued to foreign investor Omidyar Network amounted to “some foreign control.”

The CA, however, had also earlier said that a curing period should be afforded to companies found with supposed defects. The CA added that because of Omidyar’s act of donating the PDRs to Rappler’s Filipino managers, the defect “appears to have been permanently removed.”  

The murder of Jamal Khashoggi was also a top urgent issue for the coalition, as calls increase for the White House to release intelligence reports on the killing of the journalist inside the Saudi embassy in Turkey.

Another Saudi reporter, women’s rights blogger Eman Al Nafjan, was also cited as a top urgent issue after her imprisonment alongside 15 other journalists.

Also on the list are Myanmar’s Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo who were sentenced to 7 years each in prison over their reportage on extrajudicial killing of 10 Rohingya men during a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state last year.

Ressa, Khashoggi, Lone and Oo were among Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for 2018.

Time, as well as other global news outlets like Reuters, the Associated Press, Forbes, and HuffPost, are part of the One Free Press Coalition.

“TIME is proud to stand with the One Free Press Coalition and journalists all over the world who are taking great risks in pursuit of greater truths,” said TIME Editor in Chief and CEO Edward Felsenthal.

The coalition was formed during the International Media Council at the last World Economic Forum where top editors from leading media organizations in the world committed to “use their collective muscle” to highlight threats against journalists.

The top 10 list, which will be updated and published monthly, aims “to stand up for journalists under attack for pursuing the truth worldwide.”

The other journalists on the list of most urgent issues are:

• Claudia Duque (Colombia)
• Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed (Mauritania)
• Anna Nimiriano (South Sudan)
• Pelin Unker (Turkey)
• Thomas Awah Junior (Cameroon)
• Tran Thi Nga (Vietnam)

– Rappler.com