A Guatemalan court began on Tuesday, one day before the day of Press freedomthe judgment against the journalist José Rubén Zamoragovernment critic and specialist in corruption issues, accused by the prosecutor’s office of money laundering.
Arriving at the hearing handcuffed and guarded by a dozen police officers, Zamora told reporters that he was “a political prisoner” and assured that he would be sentenced, pointing out his lack of confidence in the court. Along with Zamora, the former assistant prosecutor Samari Gómez is being tried, whom the Prosecutor’s Office points out to reveal information -although it is not known what type or to whom-.
The journalist also questioned Judge Freddy Orellana, the first to hear his case and who sent him to trial, for rejecting the evidence in his favor, but accepted that of the prosecution and the plaintiffs. “Judge Orellana seems more like an executioner than a judge, more aggressive than the Public Ministry,” he said.
Zamora, 66, is the president of El Periódico. He has been honored with awards such as Columbia University’s Maria Moors Cabot Award, the International Press Freedom Award, and the International Press Institute’s World Press Freedom Hero Award.
Journalist, who has been in prison for nine months, He was accused by the prosecutor’s office after the complaint by Ronald Navarijo, a friend of his and a merchant accused of corruption, who said that Zamora had asked him to deposit 240,000 quetzales in cash in a bank, about 30,000 dollars.
Zamora’s defense maintains that the journalist sought support from Navarijo so that he would not be the one to enter the money into the banking system since it came from a donation and would be used for payments by the media. The defense also said that government harassment – which even blocked the media’s advertising schedule – was the reason why they did not want to expose the donor.
The Prosecutor’s Office has aligned itself in its accusation with the Foundation against Terrorism, a right-wing group that defends ex-military officers accused of human rights violations committed during the internal armed conflict and people accused of corruption. The organization is a plaintiff in the process against Zamora.
Four Zamora defense lawyers have had to resign after denouncing judicial pressure, being arrested for allegedly obstructing justice in the case and even being prosecuted. Two of the lawyers accepted the charges against Zamora to obtain a lighter sentence, and another remains in custody. The fourth is still pending capture.
Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI), sanctioned by the US government for obstructing the fight against corruption, said that the investigation against other journalists from El Periódico is advancing, for allegedly obstructing justice by making publications about the case.
After the government’s harassment, the morning newspaper El Periódico, which published dozens of corruption cases, stopped printing and now circulates in digital format.
The Zamora’s family has said that what triggered the imprisonment of the journalist was the publication of a case known as “The Russian plot” according to which President Alejandro Giammattei would have received bribes from Russian businessmen in exchange for benefits in mega-project concessions.
Several national and international press organizationshave applied for release from Zamora.
Mario Recinos, vice president of the Association of Journalists of Guatemala, said that the work of journalists is being prosecuted and criminalized and that the trial of Zamora is a setback for the country, because there are doubts in the case that the Prosecutor’s Office accuses him of.
“The Prosecutor’s Office is using the law against organized crime to apply it to journalists for alleged obstruction of justice, but there is a law for the Emission of Thought and the constitution says that no other law is superior to this one,” Recinos said, explaining that it is the Law of Emission of Thought that should be used if there are accusations against journalists for the exercise of their profession.
Governments such as the United States and countries of the European Union have expressed their concern about the situation in Guatemala and have warned about a deterioration of the rule of law and the criminalization of officials of the Judiciary, human rights defenders, opponents and journalists.
During the Giammattei government (2020-2024) more than 35 justice operators, activists, journalists and opponents have gone into exile.
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