Guatemalan journalists protested this weekend against the arrest of José Rubén Zamora, president of El Periódico, a newspaper critical of President Alejandro Giammattei and Attorney General Consuelo Porras, sanctioned by the United States.
(Also read: President of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, unharmed after shooting attack)
“The truth is not silenced by journalists”, chanted about a hundred communicators in front of the courts in the center of the capital, where Zamora was transferred around midnight on Friday after being arrested at his residence accused of money laundering.
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Authorities also raided the newspaper’s headquarters. In its Saturday edition, El Periódico attributed Zamora’s arrest to Giammattei, who said that he had begun a hunger strike in rejection of his capture and the requisition of the outlet of which he is the founder.
“Let me die if necessary, but let justice be done,” Zamora told reporters in court.
The communicator, under provisional detention, was then sent to the prison of a military base in the north of Guatemala City to await the hearing of the first statement, on Monday. Zamora was arrested for a reserved case, he is accused of laundering money or other assets, blackmail and influence peddling, among other crimes, said Rafael Curruchiche, head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI) of the Public Ministry.
‘They will not shut us up’
According to the official, the capture “has nothing to do with his quality as a journalist” but rather “in his capacity as a businessman”, but El Periódico and the press association consider that the operation is due to retaliation for publications of alleged corruption by Giammattei and Porras.
Curruchiche, appointed a year ago by Porras, was recently included by the United States in a list of “corrupt and undemocratic” people, or Engel List, in which the attorney general already appeared.
According to Washington, the official has led investigations into spurious accusations against former anti-mafia prosecutors. “Without journalism there is no democracy” and “They will not shut us up”, could be read on the banners raised by journalists at the demonstration in support of Zamora.
“These actions (capture and raid) are revenge on the part of Consuelo Porras for the investigations and public criticism” carried out by El Periódico, detailed the Association of Journalists in Guatemala (APG) in a statement.
In June, the IACHR added Guatemala to its list of countries where it observes serious human rights violations, a charge that Giammattei rejects. Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua also appear there.
The IACHR placed Guatemala on this list, noting a “progressive weakening of democratic institutions,” “systematic interference against the independence” of the judicial system, “irregularities in the process of electing magistrates,” and “the criminalization and stigmatization” of judges.
The Public Ministry, led by Porras, has been questioned for arresting and prosecuting several anti-mafia judges and prosecutors, although the entity assures that all of them failed to fulfill their duties.
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