Guatemala: RSF condemns court decision to reimprison journalist Jose Rubn Zamora and calls for an urgent ruling on his
Guatemala: RSF condemns court decision to reimprison journalist Jose Rubén Zamora and calls for an urgent ruling on his constitutional appeal
@Oscar Vásquez/Prensa Libre
Organisation:
RSF_en
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is outraged by the decision on 10 March 2025 to enforce the court ruling ordering the return of journalist Jose Rubén Zamora to prison. The elPeriódico founder had been granted conditional release after more than 800 days in pretrial detention. However, the Third Court of Appeals revoked this measure and ordered his return to prison without any substantial legal justification. His defense immediately filed a constitutional appeal, which RSF urges the court to review as a matter of urgency. Jose Rubén Zamora must be freed.
Jose Rubén Zamora is expected to be sent back to prison following the 10 March hearing. This hearing was held to enforce a 4 March ruling by the Third Court of Appeals, which overturned the conditional release granted in October 2024 by Judge Erick García. The same judge was forced to uphold the appellate court’s ruling: he publicly stated that he was doing so against his convictions and revealed that he and his team had received threats from unidentified individuals.
"In yet another blatant case of judicial weaponisation, Jose Rubén Zamora’s reimprisonment was enforced today by order of an appellate court, despite the reluctance of the judge overseeing the case — revealing an alarming climate of intimidation. RSF calls on the Guatemalan judiciary to respect the right to a fair trial and to end the abuse of the legal system to silence journalists. We also urge the Supreme Court of Justice to immediately rule on the constitutional appeal filed by Zamora’s defense team. The international community must continue pressuring Guatemala to guarantee press freedom and the rule of law.
Artur Romeu
Director, RSF Latin America
This decision comes as attacks on press freedom continue to escalate in Guatemala, despite the new government under President Bernardo Arévalo, who has publicly pledged to uphold fundamental rights.
https://rsf.org/en/guatemala-rsf-condemns-court-decision-reimprison-journalist-jose-rub%C3%A9n-zamora-and-calls-urgent
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CPJ calls for release of José Rubén Zamora after Guatemala judge orders the journalist back to jail
March 10, 2025 5:45 PM EDT
Journalist Jose Ruben Zamora Marroquin is escorted by security forces in Guatemala City after a judge revoked his house arrest on March 10, 2025. (Reuters/Cristina Chiquin)
The Committee to Protect Journalists denounces Monday’s court ruling to revoke the house arrest of Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora and send him back to prison.
“The decision to return journalist José Rubén Zamora to prison is a blatant act of judicial persecution. This case represents a dangerous escalation in the repression of independent journalism,” said Cristina Zahar, CPJ’s Latin America program coordinator, in São Paulo. “We call on authorities to release him immediately, stop using the justice system to silence critical journalism, and to respect press freedom and due process.”
Zamora’s return to jail on money laundering charges that have been widely condemned as politically motivated was ordered by Judge Erick García, who had initially granted Zamora house arrest on Oct. 18, 2024. García said during Monday’s hearing that he and his staff had been threatened and intimidated by unknown individuals, according to a report by Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre.
Zamora, 67, was first arrested on July 29, 2022, and spent more than 800 days in pretrial detention before being placed under house arrest. A pioneering investigative journalist, Zamora has faced decades of harassment and persecution for his work, which CPJ has extensively documented. He received CPJ’s International Press Freedom Award in 1995 for his commitment to independent journalism. His newspaper, elPeriódico, was forced to shut down in 2023.
https://cpj.org/2025/03/cpj-calls-for-release-of-jose-ruben-zamora-after-guatemala-judge-orders-the-journalist-back-to-jail/
December 18, 2024 12:00AM EST
New Administration Targeted While Other Cases Languish
Guatemala's Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras in Guatemala City, November 26, 2024. ©2024 JOHAN ORDONEZ/AFP via Getty Images
(Washington, DC, December 18, 2024) – Guatemala’s attorney general is carrying out politically motivated prosecutions against members of President Bernardo Arévalo’s administration, Human Rights Watch said today.
Since President Arévalo took office in January 2024, the Attorney General’s Office has moved forward with criminal investigations against the Arévalo administration that appear to be based on dubious evidence. In November, a judge ordered the cancelation of the president’s political party’s legal registration, as part of a case brought by the Attorney General’s Office. These decisions follow Attorney General Consuelo Porras’ efforts to prevent President Arévalo from taking office through a range of legal actions that the US government, the European Union, and members of the Organization of American States (OAS) criticized as efforts to undermine democracy.
“Attorney General Porras, who led an effort to unlawfully overturn the elections, is abusing the powers of her office to prosecute government officials through dubious evidence and legal maneuvers,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of investigating the organized crime and widespread corruption in Guatemala, the attorney general appears to be bringing these selective prosecutions to undermine a government she opposes.”
Between August and November, Human Rights Watch interviewed 11 people, including senior government officials, former prosecutors, lawmakers, and others. These included Ligia Hernández, a former government official and lawmaker, whom Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed while she was in pretrial detention at Matamoros prison. Researchers reviewed court documents and public statements by officials from the Attorney General’s Office. Human Rights Watch sent a letter to the attorney general on December 2 requesting information on her office’s investigations into corruption; she has not responded.
The Attorney General’s Office has initiated at least 17 investigations against high-level government officials, and at least six times asked the Supreme Court to strip President Arévalo of his immunity, so that he can be criminally investigated.
More:
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/12/18/guatemala-attorney-general-pursues-political-prosecutions
Attorney General Maria Consuelo Porras
