The bank accounts of El Periódico, a media outlet critical of the government of Alejandro Giammattei in Guatemala, were frozen after the arrest of its president and founder José Rubén Zamora, accused of money laundering, the newspaper reported on Monday.
Zamora was arrested on Friday at his residence, raided as well as the headquarters of the newspaper, denouncer of alleged corruption of Giammattei and Attorney General Consuelo Porras, whom the media accuses of being behind the arrest.
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“Over the weekend they froze the newspaper’s accounts. So they are also financially strangling us,” said Ramón Zamora, the journalist’s son, during a demonstration of dozens of people rejecting his father’s arrest, held in front of the courts of the center of Guatemala city.
El Periódico in a statement stated that “the bank accounts (…) were seized at the request” of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI), the entity that directs the investigations against Zamora, with “the sole intention of paralyzing finances.” medium.
Rafael Curruchiche, head of the FECI, declared that Zamora is suspected of money laundering and that the process, under reservation, is in “the capacity of an entrepreneur” and not as a journalist, an affirmation that the press union and El Periódico reject.
The rejection of these statements was fueled by the blocking of bank accounts.
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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. The official is accused of directing investigations for spurious accusations against former anti-mafia prosecutors.
Zamora, under provisional detention, was to be heard this Monday at a first statement hearing, but the appointment was suspended due to the delay in sending the file to the court hearing the accusation.
Samari Gómez, assistant prosecutor of the FECI, was also arrested for the process against Zamora, accused of disclosing confidential or reserved information.
The Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), which demanded “guarantees for press freedom,” recalled that Zamora had warned last October that President Giammattei and prosecutor Porras were “manufacturing” a case against him to imprison him.
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“Safeguarding freedom of the press is essential for democracy. The United States urges full respect for due process under Guatemalan law and the protection of personal security” of Zamora and Gómez, the head of US diplomacy wrote on Twitter on Saturday. for the Americas, Brian Nichols.
AFP
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