Fearless - Amal Clooney Maria Ressa

When superstar lawyer Amal Clooney signed on to defend Maria Ressa, her case made global headlines. Margaret Simons meets the tenacious Filipino journalist who is fighting for her life against political intimidation and fake news.

- Margaret Simons

Put Amal Clooney and Maria Ressa in a room next to each other, and you might think them an odd couple. The willowy Amal, at 1.74 metres tall, is as well known as a style icon and wife to actor George Clooney as for her work as a leading international human rights lawyer. Maria, on the other hand, is a 56-year-old diminutive livewire. An internationally renowned journalist, she is usually pictured gazing through her frameless glasses, clad in practical trouser suits and a dab of lipstick her only apparent make-up.

Yet these two women are now allied in a serious battle for media freedom in the Philippines – a battle both describe as being important to the future of democracy worldwide.

Meanwhile, Amal’s husband, George Clooney, has described Maria as “the bravest of them all … she is that version of us at our best, holding truth to power.”

In July last year it was announced that Amal would join a legal team that is trying to keep Maria out of jail and doing the kind of journalism that has annoyed authoritarian Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte. Said Amal: “We will pursue all available legal remedies to vindicate her rights and defend press freedom and the rule of law in the Philippines.”

And in September, Amal raised Maria’s case at the United Nations General Assembly as an example of governments violating the right to a free press. She said of Maria “[she] stands at five foot two, but stands taller than so many of us in her courage and personal sacrifice for the cause of telling the truth”.