- PABITRA RAUT (Nepal)
- PRABIN SUBEDI (Nepal)
- ROSHAN POKHAREL (Nepal)
- L. KHUN RING PAN (RICKY) (Myanmar)
- *MYO MYAT MYAT TUN (Myanmar)
- *NYEIN NYEIN NAING (Myanmar)
- *SOK RY SUM (Cambodia)
- TUGSBAYAR GANJUUR (Mongolia)
- THASAPORN DAMRI (Thailand)
- TANATHORN TANANONT (Thailand)
- ERWIN NATOSMAL OEMAR (Indonesia)
- ANGGARA (Indonesia)
- FERI AMSARI (Indonesia)
- PETER LOW (Singapore)
- RAJ MANNAR (Singapore)
- GEORGE HWANG (Singapore )
- CHER LING LEE (Malaysia)
- LIM WEI JIET (Malaysia)
- SARAH-ANN YONG JENLEE (Malaysia)
- TIU FOO WOEI (Malaysia)
- SOO SIEW MEI (Malaysia)
- JOANNE CHUA TSU FAE (Malaysia)
- MANUEL QUIBOD (Philippines)
- OLIVER XAVIER REYES (Philippines)
- ATHENA M. ZOSA (Philippines)
- *JOHN NERY (Philippines)
- *JOSEPH ALWYN ALBURO (Philippines)
- *CATHERINE LAI (Hong Kong)
- *FANNY FUNG (Hong Kong)
- *NILANTHA ILANGAMUWA (Hong Kong)
Note: Those marked with a * denotes s/he is a journalist.
PABITRA RAUT
(Nepal)
My name is Pabitra Raut. I am from Kathmandu, Nepal. I am a practicing lawyer as well as part time lecturer of law in Nepal Law Campus. I am an associate lawyer at Kasthamandap Law Chamber. I have completed my LL.M degree from Tribhuvan University in Constitutional Law and International Law with first division in 2012. I am in the field of legal practice from 2009 after completing LL.B and getting Advocate license from Nepal Bar Council.
I specially work for civil and constitutional issues. Sometimes I also work for the Non-Governmental organizations (NGOs) on case by case basis for the constitutional matters. Recently I worked in two writ petitions of Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD) in the issue of women’s right in citizenship. I am also scheduled mediator at Kathmandu District Court, working for alternative dispute resolution in different cases.
Apart from this we the team of young lawyers, reviewing laws and filling writ petition in the Supreme Court of Nepal. Recently we have filed writ petition at Supreme Court to make the provision void or necessary amendment of one of the provision of the Electronic Transaction Act 2063, (Article 47) which restricts the Freedom of Speech in online journalism.
As a part time faculty member of Nepal Law Campus, Faculty of Law, Tribhuvan University, I have been teaching Media Law for the students of BA.LL.B second year for five years.
I have also worked as media person for more than ten years. I worked for Radio (Times FM), Television (Nepal Television and Sagarmatha Television and Print Media (Annapurna Post National Daily). I have also participated in International Journalism course in Radio Netherlands and also got chance to engage in refresher Course of Radio Netherlands, in Philippines and Sri Lanka.
PRABIN SUBEDI
(Nepal)
Prabin Subedi has completed his LL.M studies in Information Communication Technology Law from the University of Oslo, Norway (under Norwegian Government’s Scholarship). He has submitted his dissertation entitled ‘Cyber Crime in Nepal: Comparative study with European Standards’, as a partial fulfillment of his Norwegian degree. He has acquired his LL.B degree from Kathmandu School of Law, Purbanchal University, 2012. He has been decorated with national award of ‘Nepal BidhyaPadak Ga’, 2014 from President of Nepal for being topper of his university. Mr. Subedi is also member of the teaching faculty in Kathmandu School of Law. Mr. Subedi has served in the capacity of Country Manager in Multinational Mining Company.
Mr. Subedi has taken an initiative and filed a number of pro bono Public Interest Litigation cases in Supreme Court of Nepal. Mr. Subedi has also completed his internship in Ministry of Law and Justice and has also served as founding treasurer, General Secretary and Coordinator of Public Interest Litigation Committee in NGO — Law Students Society. He has also served as project associate in renowned NGO – Pro-public and also worked as consultant for Advocacy Forum. He is also a fellow of TRIAL – Tracking Impunity Always working for providing legal assistance to the victim of rape, torture, willful killings in Nepal. He has contributed in World Bank Global Report on ICT and Agriculture and researcher on ‘Enabling Environment for Civil Society Organization, National Assessment, 2016’.
ROSHAN POKHAREL
(Nepal)
Advocate Roshan Pokharel has received a Masters of Laws (LL.M) from Pune University, India. He is serving as Faculty member of Law in Department of Conflict Peace and Development Studies, Tribhuvan University. He works as Research Coordinator in Center for Law and Technology (CLT) Pvt. Ltd. He is an executive member of Internet Society Nepal (2016-2018). He can be reached at pokharel.roshan@gmail.com
L. KHUN RING PAN (RICKY)
(Myanmar)
My name is L. Khun Ring Pan, a 36 year old lawyer from Myanmar, who has represented Patrick Kum Jaa Lee in one of the first cases prosecuted under the notorious Telecommunication Act for online defamation.
I am an advocate of the Supreme Court and a member of the Legislative Committee of the Mon State’s Parliament.
I am currently also working at Myanmar Media Lawyers’ Network’s project for the “Advocacy and Awareness for Ratification of ICCPR”.
I have volunteered as a country legal officer for Media Defense Southeast Asia (MDSEA).
MYO MYAT MYAT TUN
(Myanmar)
Myo Myo is a contract journalist with the Wall Street Journal, covering politics and business in Myanmar.
She has about 10 years experience in the media industry, including print and broadcast media and worked for the Myanmar Times, contributing to both English and Myanmar Language Editions of the newspaper from 2008 to 2011 and for another local newspaper like Trades Times and Yangon Times as sub-editor and deputy chief of staff respectively.
From 2014 to 2016 she worked as a freelance moderator/presenter for Debate TV Program of Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB).
She has a Bachelor of English from Dagon University.
Moreover she was the fellow of the Asia Journalism Fellowship Program (AJF) at Wee Kim Wee School of communication, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore in 2012.
As the fellow of AJF, her research focused on “Myanmar Media’s manpower needs”.
NYEIN NYEIN NAING
(Myanmar)
Nyein Nyein Naing is a Deputy Chief Editor at 7Day Daily and 7Day News Journal which is one of the most leading publications in Myanmar. She has been working as a journalist for 14 years since 7Day News journal started in 2002.
She is responsible for both 7Day News Journal and 7Day Daily which started in 2013. And also she is leading the digital newsroom and responsible for digital innovation of 7Day Media.
She won two very pioneers Journalism Award in Myanmar, The Best Feature Award for 2010 given by Myanmar Press Award Committee and The Best Feature Award for 2011 given by National Press Award Committee. So she is well known women Journalist in the town. And she was East West Center’s Jefferson fellow in 2007 and was a fellow of South East Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) in 2009. Alumni of the Thailand based media development organization “The Indochina Media Memorial Foundation” alumni for years.
She has done special reports and special features not only in 7 Day News also regional media like The Bangkok Post paper.
Nyein Nyein Naing is a Board of Director of Yangon Journalism School, YJS since the school founded.
She received the Bachelor of Law from University of Pyay in 2010.
SOK RY SUM
(Cambodia)
Sok Ry SUM is Cambodian lawyer and journalist working for Radio Free Asia (RFA) since 2000 with current position Senior Editor. He holds dual citizenships, Cambodian-American.
In 1992 when Cambodia just emerged from grave human rights violations of Khmer Rouge genocide, and Vietnamese communist occupation, SokRy who survived the regime, moved his career from medical profession to working in civil society to promote respects for human rights and rule of law. From 1992 to 1999, he worked for Human Rights Component of United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) and The Asia Foundation (TAF) as human rights program officer and assistant to Legal Advisor of Cambodian National Assembly Human Rights Commission, assisting in translating and reviewing laws including legal analysis and explanation. In 1999, he became a member of Cambodian Bar Association.
Sok Ry’s commitment and devotion for human rights earned him two master’s scholarship programs to study in the United States– Master of Laws (L. L. M.), International Transactions and Comparative Law, at University of San Francisco, School of Law, San Francisco, CA in 1996 and Master of International Policy and Practice, (M.I.P.P), Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. in 1999.
After his graduation from the latter program, Sok Ry has since joined Radio Free Asia based in Washington, D.C. while maintaining his membership in Cambodian Bar Association. As a senior editor of the most popular international media outlet for Cambodians, Sok Ry has edited and written many news, feature reports as well as analysis pertaining to legal, political, human rights and social issues for RFA’s daily broadcast programs which go on air twice per day from Washington D.C.
Besides Cambodian which is his native language, Sok Ry is fluent in English and Thai.
TUGSBAYAR GANJUUR
(Mongolia)
Tugsbayar Ganjuur is an attorney at law in Mongolia. He is also a member of the International Law Committee at the Mongolian Bar Association.
He has been practicing law since 2010 with main focus on corporate and media law. As one of the few lawyers practicing media law in Mongolia, he gives advice to a wide range of clients such as television broadcasters and NGOs such as Mongolian Television Union.
Tugsbayar studied law at the University of Goettingen in Germany and holds an LL.M from Mongolian National University in international civil procedure law.
THASAPORN DAMRI
(Thailand)
Thasaporn Damri is a communication officer at iLaw; a non government organization in Thailand. Now she is promoting and advocating the Computer Crime Act. She is also interested in privacy and protection policy. Previously, she was a researcher who researched about cyber bullying among the youth in Thailand.
TANATHORN TANANONT
(Thailand)
TANATHORN TANANONT, co-founder and project manager at Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).
Before founding TLHR, I was a law researcher at Human Rights Lawyers Association; my tasks included researching the human rights situation in Thailand. I was also part of the committee to review death penalty video contest held by Amnesty International Thailand.
In TLHR, as project manager, I conduct organization management, review and advocate TLHR strategy and cases to achieve its mission to uphold rule of law and democracy situation in Thailand. TLHR is now handling 98 cases and 153 clients and collect more that 400 incidents of human rights violation in Thailand.
ERWIN NATOSMAL OEMAR
(Indonesia)
Erwin is a researcher of the Indonesian Legal Roundtable, an NGO which focuses on rule of law issues (2012 until now). Now, he is appointed as program manager of Indonesia Rule of Law Index by Indonesian Legal Roundtable, a quantative research measuring obedience of Indonesian Goverment on rule of law principles.
Erwin graduated bachelors of law from Gadjah Mada University (2011). He is the former Chairman of the Senate of Students of Gadjah Mada University (2007). He began his career as an assistent of human rights defenders at LBH Yogyakarta (Yogyakarta Legal Aid Foundations), and then worked as freelance researcher at a few NGOs in Yogyakarta. Before finishing his bachelors degree, Erwin worked as editor at Genta Publishing, a prominent legal publisher in Indonesia (2010 to 2012).
Erwin is also an attorney and co-coordinator at PILNET Indonesia, a networking of human right defenders which focuses on issues of human rights, freedom of expression, democracy and legal aid.
ANGGARA
(Indonesia)
Anggara is a Senior Researcher Associate as well as a Chairperson of the Governing Board at the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR). ICJR is an organization focusing on criminal law and criminal justice reform in Indonesia. Anggara has worked and has been involved in several NGOs for more than 14 years. He also has multifarious experiences in litigation, law reform, and human rights advocacy in Indonesia. Currently, ICJR has become a leading NGO for advocacy on Draft Bill on the Indonesian Criminal Code and has become an important partner for the Parliament and the Government of Indonesia for the law reform process, specifically related to the criminal law.
Since 2013, Anggara has also been managing Hukumpedia.com, a law-based citizen journalism portal, and in 2016, Anggara was also given a responsibility to serve as the Director of Operation at justika.com, an open market place to seek legal services in Indonesia.
FERI AMSARI
(Indonesia)
Feri Amsari is a lecturer of Constitutional Law, Human Rights, Presidential Powers, and Comparative Constitutional Law at Faculty of Law Andalas University.
He graduated his bachelor (2004) and master (2008) degree from Faculty of Law and Postgraduate Program of Andalas University. He also got his LLM from William and Mary Law School, Virginia-USA in 2014.
Beside his activity as lecturer, he vigorously has been involved as an anticorruption activist at Integritas – an anticorruption institution – of West Sumatra, Indonesia and also as a senior researcher at the Center for Constitution Studies (PUSaKO) – one of the leading research institutions on constitutional law issues – of Faculty of Law Andalas University.
He has published several books related to constitutional law and anticorruption issues. Many articles of Feri have been published by national and local media in Indonesia.
He can be contacted through email: feriamsari@gmail.com
PETER LOW
(Singapore)
Peter Low is a former president of the Law Society of Singapore. He runs a law firm focused on litigation including [and specialising in] Freedom of Speech and Expression cases such as defamation, contempt of court and sedition.
He has defended a few opposition politicians in high profile libel suits instituted against them by the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and other leaders of the ruling party. He has also defended a Dow Jones-owned publication against high profile libel suits brought against them by the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Peter is also a prominent Singapore blogger on scandalising contempt charges. Recently, his law firm defended two clients in a high profile case on sedition charges. Peter Low has spoken on many occasions, in Singapore and, at regional meetings, on issues relating to Freedom of Speech and Expression in Singapore.
RAJ MANNAR
(Singapore)
Raj is a Senior Associate in Peter Low LLC, a boutique litigation firm based in Singapore which regularly engages in public interest litigation, in particular, freedom of expression and speech cases such as libel suits, contempt of court cases and sedition cases. Raj regularly advises and acts for clients in defamation and libel cases as well as in harassment – including online harassment – matters.
Most recently, Raj acted for the two founders and directors of The Real Singapore, a now defunct online news website on a few different fronts:
(1) defending them against criminal charges they faced under the Sedition Act for publishing articles on the said website which were deemed as having a tendency to cause “ill-will and hostility” between different classes of people in Singapore;
(2) defending them against regulatory sanctions imposed on their website for breaching regulations of the Media Development Authority of Singapore; and
(3) defending them against a civil copyright action brought against them in the High Court of Singapore by Singapore Press Holdings Limited, in relation to articles contained on the said website.
Raj also takes a keen interest in commercial litigation and regularly advises on contractual disputes, shareholder disputes and regulatory matters.
GEORGE HWANG
(Singapore)
George Hwang is an IP and Media lawyer who strongly believes in freedom of expression. His advocacy work has seen him representing the International Bar Association as a trial observer, in politically charged hearings; defending journalists and bloggers in the courts of Singapore; and making constant contributions to online newspapers with articles related to freedom of expression.
His work on Raja Petra’s habeas corpus hearings in Malaysia resulted in the release of an IBA Report, entitled, “MALAYSIA: The Delicate Balance Between Security and Due Process”. In Vietnam, he was interrogated by the country’s internal security. This has resulted in a satirical chapter in an upcoming book on his journey with human rights. He was part of the team which successfully overturned a High Court decision in Singapore’s apex court, protecting a journalist’s right to keep his sources confidential. Last year, he defended blogger Roy Ngerng in a defamation suit brought by the Prime Minister of Singapore.
He constantly infuses human rights arguments in his Intellectual Property and Media Law work. He has advised on the right to health to NGOs for HIV drugs and made representations on access to information for the visually impaired in copyright laws.
George has been commissioned to write the inaugural volume on Media Law for the Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore and appointed a Content Partner for Lexis Practical Guidance for IP/IT: Corporate; and IP/IT: Advertising and Marketing, which shall be launched in December 2016.
He has contributed a chapter, “Confidentiality of Journalists’ Sources in Singapore: The Sound of Silence”, in a book entitled: “Media Law and Policy in the Internet Age”, edited by Doreen Weisenhaus and Simon Young of Hong Kong University, published by Hart Publishing, Oxford, UK.
CHER LING LEE
(Malaysia)
Cher Ling is a legal associate at Yeo Chambers, a civil litigation firm in the city of Johor Bahru, Malaysia. She assists Dato Yeo Yang Poh, former President of the Malaysian Bar in various litigation work of diverse nature, particularly in the areas of contract, tort, land matters, administrative law and arbitration.
Cher Ling completed the BPTC at BPP Law School, London and graduated from the University of Manchester, where she obtained her LLB (Hons). She is a barrister of Lincoln’s Inn and ADR Group Accredited Mediator. Cher Ling has been involved in pro bono work while she was studying the BPTC in London. Upon her return to Malaysia, she participated in the Strategic Litigation Camp 2015 organised by the Malaysian Bar Council’s Human Rights Committee and Malaysian Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights. She is currently serving the Malaysian Bar Council Child Rights Committee.
LIM WEI JIET
(Malaysia)
Wei Jiet is a civil litigator in the chambers of Messrs Sreenevasan, a boutique dispute resolution firm based in Kuala Lumpur. He graduated with a LLB (Hons) from the University of Malaya in 2015 and was admitted to the High Court of Malaya in 2016. He was also a Global Undergraduate Exchange scholar to the United States in the field of Political Science & International Relations.
Having a keen interest towards constitutional and administrative law, he routinely deals with cases involving accountability of public powers and the safeguard of fundamental liberties. He has also assisted senior counsel on various aspects of commercial litigation, from shareholder disputes to insolvency. The other main areas of his practice include defamation & intellectual property law. As a member of the Bar Council’s Constitutional Law Committee, Wei Jiet actively campaigns and collaborates on programs to spread awareness to the public on the Federal Constitution and their rights.
During his varsity days, Wei Jiet was an avid mooter and was also the debating team captain. He was the winner of the Global Debate & Public Policy Competition 2015, a Semi-Finalist (ESL) of the World Universities Debating Championship 2014 and had represented his faculty in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Competition. Today, he serves in the adjudication core of various debating tournaments and frequently conducts advocacy training to university students.
In his spare time, Wei Jiet keeps a close interest on socio-political & public policy issues.
SARAH-ANN YONG JENLEE
(Malaysia)
Sarah-Ann is a young lawyer practicing at AmerBON Advocates, a new-law commune in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, known for its advocacy of human rights and devotion in public interest, pro bono and strategic litigation work. AmerBON Advocates was also recently the recipient of Malaysia’s Litigation Law Firm of the Year 2016 award.
She graduated with a LL.B (Hons) degree from the University of Reading with a Second Upper Class in 2013. She completed the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) in Cardiff University and was called to the Bar of England and Wales at the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple in 2014. She was admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in May 2016.
Since joining AmerBON Advocates, Sarah has assisted junior and senior counsels in a wide range of areas such as family (in particular divorce, child custody and adoption), whistleblower protection, public interest matters involving freedom of speech and expression, sedition as well as judicial review proceedings. Sarah has also assisted counsel on criminal briefs involving drug trafficking, habeas corpus and detainees under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012.
Sarah is a member of the Kuala Lumpur Young Lawyers Committee, Kuala Lumpur Pupils Committee, Kuala Lumpur Child Rights Committee and most recently, a volunteer with Women’s Aid Organisation. She is passionate about youth and women empowerment as well as advocating for the rights of children.
TIU FOO WOEI
(Malaysia)
Foo Woei graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of London (External) in 2008 and completed his Certificate of Legal Practice (CLP) in 2010. He read in the Chambers of Messrs Azri, Lee Swee Seng & Co and was admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya on 23rd September 2011. He is a member of the Human Rights Committee of the Malaysian Bar for the term 2016/2017.
He is passionate about human rights and has also defended university student in disciplinary proceeding for giving press statement without permission from the Senate in University of Malaya.
Foo Woei’s primary areas of practice are general litigation and commercial litigation, contractual disputes, tenancy disputes, recovery of vacant possession, wills, probate and administration of estates. Foo Woei has just completed his Masters in Law (LLM) in University of Malaya and currently practices law in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
SOO SIEW MEI
(Malaysia)
Soo Siew Mei graduated from the University of Malaya with an LL.B (Hons) and was admitted as an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in July 2008. She joined the Dispute Resolution practice group of Shearn Delamore & Co in July 2008 as a Legal Assistant and was promoted to Senior Legal Assistant in 2013.
Her main area of practice focuses on corporate and commercial litigation, civil dispute, defamation and other torts. She has represented a broad range of clients in various industries in a wide range of legal matters. She has appeared both as counsel and co-counsel for trials at the High Court and hearings in the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.
JOANNE CHUA TSU FAE
(Malaysia)
Joanne Chua Tsu Fae is an associate at Gobind Singh Deo & Co. She graduated with an L.LB (Hons) from the Cardiff University, United Kingdom and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2009. She returned to Malaysia and was called to the Malaysian Bar a year later.
She is involved in constitutional challenges to uphold the freedom of speech and assembly, and has defended Malaysian Members of Parliament, civil activists and students charged under the Penal Code, Sedition Act, Official Secrets Act, Communications and Multimedia Act and Peaceful Assembly Act.
MANUEL QUIBOD
(Philippines)
Manuel or Manny is a lawyer from Davao City, Philippines, currently the Dean and faculty member of the College of Law of the Ateneo de Davao University where he has been teaching since 1985, teaches taxation and supervises the legal aid program of the law school where law students volunteer or undertake their practicum classes, and has been doing litigation and legal aid work on cases of the political detainees, human rights workers, farmers, laborers, indigenous peoples, religious, urban poor, and other vulnerable sectors. He was a former Vice President for Mindanao of the Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS).
He is the regional coordinator for Southern Mindanao of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), vice chairman for internal affairs of the Union of People’s Lawyers for Mindanao (UPLM), and member of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL).
He is a member of University Community Engagement and Advocacy Council (UCEAC) of Ateneo de Davao which is the outreach arm and engagement office of the school. The College of Law and the Ateneo Legal Aid Office support and provide the legal advocacy and assistance of UCEAC.
OLIVER XAVIER REYES
(Philippines)
Oliver is a lawyer from the Philippines who currently is a Senior Program Manager for the Southeast Asia Regional Internet Freedom Program of the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative. The Program enhances through trainings and knowledge-sharing, the ability of lawyers and civil society advocates in the region to challenge restrictions and advocate for stronger legal protections for online rights, especially the right to free expression.
Oliver graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law, and worked for six years at the Supreme Court of the Philippines as a Judicial Staff Head. He presently teaches ICT Law at the De La Salle University College of Law, Criminal and Civil Procedure at the Far Eastern University College of Law, and Legal Research at the Lyceum of the Philippines College of Law.
Oliver is also a founding member of Democracy.Net.PH, which promotes free online expression and for sensible legislation covering the internet. With other members of Democracy.Net.PH, he participated in drafting the Magna Carta for Philippine Internet Freedom, a rights-based framework for internet governance that was eventually filed as a bill with the Philippine Congress.
Oliver was previously a Writer-at-Large for the Philippine edition of Esquire Magazine. He has also been published in the Philippine Free Press, GMA News Online and CNN Philippines.
ATHENA M. ZOSA
(Philippines)
Athena Zosa is Legal Counsel at ABS-CBN Corporation, the Philippines’ largest and leading multi-media conglomerate. She graduated from the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law in 2008 and passed the 2008 bar exams. In Ateneo, she was part of the Ateneo Society of International Law, where she participated and represented the Philippines as researcher and as oralist in international moot competitions, including the Law Asia Moot Competition, which was held in Hong Kong in 2007.
Athena started working with law firms, where her practice was focused on general litigation as well as corporate work. She joined ABS-CBN in 2012. Athena handles the digital and online media businesses of ABS-CBN, including digital and telecommunications partnerships. She was instrumental in the negotiation and finalization of the partnership between ABS-CBN and the two major telecommunications companies in the Philippines for the distribution of the ABS-CBN’s OTT content platform to their subscribers. She also handled the partnership between ABS-CBN and video-on-demand streaming services providers, such as Hooq.
Athena also has a wide range of experience in technology and commercial work, including online data privacy and protection, online defamation, commercial and technology contracts. Athena handled the partnership contract between ABS-CBN and IBM Corporation for applications management. She is also currently in charge of several of ABS-CBN’s major online, digital, technological and commercial projects.
JOHN NERY
(Philippines)
John Nery is Editor in Chief of INQUIRER.net, one of the leading news sites in the Philippines; he is also Associate Editor and Opinion Columnist at the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the country’s largest newspaper; and Director, Editorial Special Projects, of the Inquirer Group of Companies.
He has served the Inquirer Group in various capacities since joining it in 2001: He started the investigative team, launched the Sunday discussion page Talk of the Town, executive-produced Inquirer TV (a TV newsmagazine that ran for two and a half years), served as managing editor of Inquirer Compact (a regional newspaper), and organized the Inquirer Presidential Debate during the 2010 presidential elections and the Inquirer Senate Forums in the 2013 midterm elections. He served as a co-moderator of the first presidential debate in the 2016 vote.
He has written editorials for the newspaper since 2001, and a weekly column since 2007. Since July, he has also co-hosted a weekly multimedia show broadcast live on radio and Facebook and carried on YouTube and INQUIRER.net.
He is the first Sandra Burton grantee of a Nieman Fellowship in journalism in Harvard University (2011-2012), and was a visiting research fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore (2009-2011). He is the author of “Revolutionary Spirit: Jose Rizal in Southeast Asia,” published in both Singapore and Manila. He has received recognition, including some of the top Philippine journalism awards, for his opinion writing, investigative journalism, and book editing. He studied philosophy at the Ateneo de Manila University. He represents the Inquirer on the Executive Board of the Asia News Network.
JOSEPH ALWYN ALBURO
(Philippines)
Alwyn Alburo is a journalist with 20 years of experience in the Philippine broadcast news industry. Alwyn presently works as a News Program Manager in GMA Network where he is also a news executive producer.
He previously worked as a news reporter, news anchor and desk editor in various news departments. He was also previously a producer for several award-winning public affairs programs. Two of his documentaries won awards at the 2005 New York Film Festival and the 2004 US International Film and Video Festival.
Alwyn is currently a journalism lecturer at the University of Santo Tomas teaching Journalism Ethics, Broadcast Journalism, Philippine Politics for Journalists, Mutimedia Journalism and its Ethics and other courses. He graduated with MA in Journalism at the Asian Center for Journalism (ACFJ) at the Ateneo de Manila University. He is currently enrolled in a Certificate Course for Social Media Reporting also at the ACFJ.
Alwyn is also currently the Vice Chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), the largest union of professional journalists promoting press freedom and ethical journalism and actively campaigning against the killing of journalists in the Philippines. He is also the Treasurer for the Society of Asian Journalists, the alumni association of the ACFJ.
Alwyn is originally from Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental in the Visayan Region but he lives and works in Quezon City, the Philippines.
CATHERINE LAI
(Hong Kong)
Catherine is a Canadian journalist and photographer who lived in Beijing for almost two years, working in TV and online media. She is presently a reporter and the Deputy Editor at Hong Kong Free Press. Aside from Hong Kong and mainland affairs, she is also interested in urban spaces, art and feminism. She holds a BA in Literature and Art History from the University of British Columbia.
FANNY FUNG
(Hong Kong)
Fanny is a reporter for Hong Kong Cable Television. She produces current affairs features and investigative reports for the programme News Lancet, which is broadcast weekly on the station’s News Channel (Channel 9).
With ten years of experience in journalism, she is specialised in Hong Kong politics and has extensively covered the Special Administrative Region’s cross-border issues in relation to Mainland China and Taiwan. She has also been a town planning and heritage conservation policy beat reporter and has a keen interest on local history.
She has worked in both the print and the broadcast media, and both the English and Chinese-language media in Hong Kong. Prior to joining Cable TV, she had served the South China Morning Post and the Hong Kong Economic Journal newspapers.
Fanny is a graduate in psychology and sociology from the University of Hong Kong. In 2012, she was awarded a scholarship by the Hong Kong Branch of the Bristol University Alumni Association. She took a year of break from full-time journalistic work to study at the University of Bristol and obtained a masters degree in public policy.
NILANTHA ILANGAMUWA
(Hong Kong)
Nilantha Ilangamuwa is a Sri Lankan journalist based in Hong Kong. He edits the Sri Lanka Guardian (www.slguardian.org), an online daily newspaper, and he also an editor of the Torture: Asian and Global Perspectives, bi-monthly print magazine (www.torturemag.org) published by the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) and Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY). He has authored three non-fictions and his most recent book is on Lu Xun, the father of modern Chinese literature.