Filipino journalist Frenchie Cumpio found guilty of terror financing in verdict rights groups call absurd'

"A young Filipino journalist who spent nearly six years in a crowded provincial prison was found guilty of terror financing on Thursday, in a case rights groups and a UN rapporteur labelled a travesty of justice. Community journalist and radio broadcaster Frenchie Cumpio, 26, and former roommate Marielle Domequil broke down in tears and hugged each other as the guilty verdict was read and they were sentenced to 12-18 years in prison by judge Georgina Uy Perez of the Tacloban regional court."

"Cumpio and Domequil were arrested in February 2020 on weapons charges, accused of possessing a handgun and a grenade. More than a year later, a charge of terror financing, with a potential 40-year jail sentence, was added. Both Cumpio and her advocates have insisted she was a victim of red-tagging, in which the government links its critics to a long-running communist insurgency to silence them."

Frenchie Cumpio, a community journalist and radio broadcaster, was found guilty of terror financing and sentenced to 12-18 years after nearly six years held in a crowded provincial prison. She and former roommate Marielle Domequil were acquitted on a lesser weapons charge. The pair were arrested in February 2020 over alleged possession of a handgun and a grenade, and authorities added a terror financing charge more than a year later carrying a potential 40-year term. Cumpio and supporters say she was red-tagged to silence critical reporting. Rights groups and a UN rapporteur condemned the proceedings, and lawyers plan to appeal and seek bail.

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