IACHR insists on the need to guarantee freedom of expression at the end of the visit to Zamora – 2024-02-21 17:15:13

The official mission of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) concluded its visit to Guatemala as a follow-up to the precautionary measure issued in favor of journalist Jose Rubén Zamora.

The visit was led by the Executive Secretary, Tania Reneaum Panszi, and the Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Pedro Vaca Villarreal, in addition to a technical team and took place between February 12 and 13, 2024.

This meeting in the country allowed the official mission to visit Zamora in the Mariscal Zavala prison and its members personally verified the state in which the journalist has been detained since July 2022.

In addition to Zamora, the IACHR mission had meetings with civil society, journalists and lawyers. He also met with representatives of the Presidential Commission for Peace and Human Rights, the Attorney General’s Office, the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance, the Public Ministry, the Judicial Branch, the Institute of Public Criminal Defense, the management General of the Penitentiary System and the National Institute of Forensic Sciences.

The IACHR urged these institutions to “promote coordination spaces to continue the implementation of precautionary measures in a frank, transparent and constructive dialogue.”

According to the IACHR, the mission’s visit was made at the invitation of the government of Bernardo Arévalo, who received its members on the day of their arrival in Guatemala.

Arévalo, the IACHR explained, reiterated that his Government will make “the efforts that are the responsibility of the Executive to guarantee the protection of Mr. Jose Rubén Zamora.”

While the official mission “expressed concerns to guarantee the life and integrity of Mr. Zamora Marroquín, especially in health conditions.”

Finally, the IACHR mission “emphasized the need for the State to make the maximum of its efforts to guarantee the independence of powers and freedom of expression, and to stop the criminal prosecution of justice operators, defenders and journalists.”

#IACHR is found in #Guatemala at the invitation of the new government to follow up on the #caution current of the journalist José Rubén Zamora, to whom the delegation is listening. The mission is in charge of the Executive Secretary @TaniaReneaum next to @PVacaVRelator… pic.twitter.com/GOwmJHe3Ci

— CIDH – IACHR (@CIDH) February 12, 2024

Jose Rubén Zamora, founder of El Periódico, was captured on July 29, 2022. Five days earlier he had launched strong accusations of corruption once morest the closest circle of then-president Alejandro Giammattei.

Zamora is waiting for a criminal court to begin a repeat trial for money laundering once morest him, because the 6-year prison sentence imposed on him in 2023 was annulled because an appeals chamber considered that there were errors. in the process.

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