Guatemala court revokes journalist's conditional release

By AFP

A Guatemalan appeals court on Tuesday revoked the conditional release of prominent journalist Jose Ruben Zamora, a stark critic of the government of former right-wing president Alejandro Giammattei.

Special prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, who is under US sanctions for alleged corruption, said in a video message that the court had withdrawn Zamora's release at his office's request.

The 67-year-old Zamora, who is facing accusations of money laundering, had been granted home arrest last month but was never freed from a military barracks in Guatemala City because of a separate obstruction of justice case that is pending.

In June 2023, Zamora -- the founder of the now-shuttered El Periodico -- was sentenced to six years in prison on the money laundering charges.

But last October, that sentence was overturned and a new trial was ordered, though no date has been set. The journalist has been detained since July 2022.

Zamora says those charges have been trumped up in retaliation for his newspaper's reporting on alleged government corruption under Giammattei, who was in office from 2020 until early this year.

The journalist's son Jose Zamora, who lives in exile, told AFP that he was not surprised by the ruling, describing the case as "political persecution," and said that his father would consider further legal action.

Giammattei has been accused by rights groups of overseeing a crackdown on anti-graft prosecutors and journalists during his term, which ended in January.

He was replaced by President Bernardo Arevalo, an underdog anti-corruption campaigner who overcame attempts by the political establishment to block his inauguration.

Press freedom and rights groups have denounced Zamora's prosecution as a "witch hunt."

For his part, Arevalo has said he hopes to see the journalist freed "soon."