2023-06-15 23:53:00
Guatemalan journalist and founder of The newspaper José Rubén Zamora Marroquín was sentenced to six years in prison and a fine of $37,500 for money laundering. The newspaper opposed to the government of Alejandro Giammattei It should have closed its doors last May 15 following 27 years of circulation.
“José Rubén Zamora Marroquín is sentenced to six uncommutable years in prison,” said Judge Otto Valvert, when announcing the sentence once morest the founder of El Periódico. Both the journalist and the prosecution, which was asking for a 40-year sentence, will appeal the ruling.
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The Prosecutor’s Office had requested 40 years in prison for the 66-year-old journalist, who hoped to be acquitted. Press organizations classified the trial as a “witch hunt” carried out in the midst of the general election campaign on June 25, the AFP agency reported.
After denouncing “criminal persecution and economic pressure”, El Periódico, founded by the journalist in 1996, closed permanently on May 15. In December it had already stopped circulating on paper and only maintained the digital edition. The newspaper received several distinctions, among them the one of Outstanding Media at the 2021 King of Spain International Journalism Awards.
an expression without freedom
“I am going to appeal” were the first words of the journalist Zamora. With a serene appearance and, at times, smiling, he was taken away in handcuffs from the court to the jail where He has been detained for almost 11 months.
Zamora accused President Giammattei and US-sanctioned Attorney General Consuelo Porras of fabricating the case to silence him over publications regarding government corruption. “I am still innocent and he is still a thief, no one in history is going to take that away from him”, The journalist said regarding the Guatemalan president following the ruling.
The journalist said that among the ten lawyers who participated in his defense “most were persecuted by the Guatemalan State, four were imprisoned and two left the country”. Zamora himself warned that his wife, Minayú Marroquín, went into exile with her son before the ruling to the United States for fear of being arrested.
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The case
Since the trial began, on May 2, the Prosecutor’s Office accused Zamora of alleged money laundering, extortion and influence peddling. However, the court dismissed the last two charges, although it also sentenced him to pay a fine of regarding $37,500.
Rafael Curruchiche, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation once morest the journalist, announced: “We are going to present a special appeal and the sentence that we have requested, 40 years, we are going to request it once more from the Appeals Chamber.” Former prosecutor Samari Gómez, tried with Zamora on charges of leaking information to him, was acquitted by the court.
According to the AFP agency, the Zamora case occurred following the arrest of several former prosecutors and judges who investigated high-profile cases of corruption, who are now mostly accused of abuse of authority, eight of whom are in prison and more than 30 in exile, according to reports. the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW).
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Solidarity in the world community
Ana María Méndez, director for Central America of the Washington Office for Latin American Affairs (WOLA) published on Twitter: “From WOLA, and various international organizations, we have denounced that the political persecution of critical voices, such as that of José Rubén Zamora, is cause for serious concern. The criminalization of the journalistic practice is a violation of democracy itself.”
“The Zamora case represents another step towards the consolidation of a dictatorship. The rule of law is broken,” said the director of WOLA.
For its part, prior to the trial, the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (RELE) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) ruled on the guarantees for the exercise of freedom of expression and of the press in Guatemala, expressing its concern for the reports received and calls on the State to fully and effectively guarantee these fundamental rights. The current IACHR rapporteur, Pedro Vaca, expressed his concern on Twitter regarding “the criminal conviction once morest the journalist.” “The outlet he led closed. Several journalists who have covered his case are being investigated. The reports of fear and self-censorship by the press in Guatemala are daily,” he denounced.
forceful position
The Inter-American Press Association (SIP) also repudiated the journalist’s sentence: “We are facing a clear act of intimidation once morest all journalism in Guatemala”signed the president of the IAPA, Michael Greenspon, in a statement. “This is a low blow for press freedom in Guatemala,” enlarge the same document.
It is “contradictory, or at least suspicious, that a journalist whose denunciations of public corruption led presidents and high-ranking officials to jail ends up in jail,” the IAPA chief commented. And he concluded: “Although the IAPA is respectful of judicial rulings, we cannot fail to reiterate our criticism of the Guatemalan justice system for its lack of independence.”
For his part, the head of US diplomacy for Latin America, Brian Nichols, said that this ruling “threatens independent journalism and freedom of expression in Guatemala.” Along the same lines, Nichols posted on his Twitter account: “The world will be watching to see that his health and physical integrity are protected.”
Historic ruling for press freedom
Guatemala moves towards an “authoritarian model”
With those words, Edmont Mulet described the direction the Central American country is taking. The centrist candidate for the June 25 elections. “We are slowly slipping towards an authoritarian model. I’m not saying dictatorship, but authoritarian, the Nicaraguan model, for example,” said the 72-year-old lawyer in dialogue with the AFP agency.
“The persecution once morest the media, journalists, justice operators, politicians (…) are worrisome elements,” he added. Mulet began his political career in the 1980s as a deputy and in 1992 he presided over Congress. He was also a journalist and ambassador to the United States and the European Union.
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