The Supreme Court of Justice of Guatemala (CSJ) suspended on Monday the revocation of house arrest for journalist José Rubén Zamora, preventing his return to prison, where he spent two years on a disputed money laundering charge, according to his defense team. The Chamber of Protection and Preliminary Hearing of the CSJ granted an appeal in favor of the journalist, thus invalidating an order issued in November by the appeals chamber for Zamora, under house arrest since October, to return to jail, Jovita Tzul, defense attorney, said.
“He’s not going back (to prison). He stays at home,” José Zamora, the journalist’s son, confirmed from Miami. Zamora had appeared Monday at a hearing in another instance regarding compliance with the appeals chamber, but the judges decided to suspend it pending the resolution from the Court’s Chamber of Protection.
Reporters Without Borders celebrated the resolution on social network X, considering it “a fundamental step towards total and unconditional freedom for the founder” of El Periódico newspaper. Zamora, 68, was imprisoned in the Mariscal Zavala military barracks jail, in northern Guatemala City, from July 29, 2022, until last October, in a process that international organizations and several governments consider an attack against the press by the previous government.
The journalist was arrested in 2022 after publishing corruption cases in his newspaper El Periódico that implicated then right-wing president Alejandro Giammattei (2020-2024). El Periódico closed in 2023 while he was in prison.
State Terrorism
An appeals chamber revoked on November 15 the house arrest granted to him in October, which was condemned by international press organizations and Guatemalan president Bernardo Arévalo. After concluding the earlier hearing, Zamora assured that the State has spent enormous sums on a process against him for alleged money laundering, which is a case fabricated for “political persecution,” while corrupt officials or drug traffickers are not pursued by the prosecution.
“With civilized, decent, correct people, they initiate any political persecution with different practices of arbitrariness and state terrorism, (…) however, they are enablers of drug trafficking,” he insisted. Nevertheless, he assured that he will continue defending his innocence whether under house arrest or in prison if returned. “I will face these corrupt judges and prosecutors,” he stated.
The ultra-right Foundation against Terrorism is a plaintiff in the prosecution’s case against Zamora, whose main officials are sanctioned by the United States and the European Union for being considered “corrupt” and “undemocratic.” Zamora’s son acknowledged that while the prosecution and the Foundation Against Terrorism can appeal, “it becomes increasingly difficult” for them to maintain the persecution against his father.
