Guatemalan journalist moved to house arrest after 2-year jail stint

José Rubén Zamora‚ a Guatemalan journalist who started El Periódico (an anti-corruption newspaper that shut down about a year ago) has been moved to house arrest. This comes after he spent more than two years behind bars

His family is happy about this change. José Carlos Zamora‚ the journalists son‚ said: “At last he can defend himself as he always should have‚ free from a baseless and abusive process“. He also mentioned that while theres still a long way to go‚ this is a win for his dad‚ their family‚ and press freedom in Guatemala

The judge‚ Erick García Alvarado‚ decided to let Zamora out because his preventive arrest in one case had run out. Zamora‚ who is 68 years old‚ had been in jail since 07/2022. He was accused of money laundering (about $38‚000) and in 06/2023 he got a six-year sentence. But an appeals court threw out the sentence because of mistakes in the process. Now‚ Zamora is waiting to see if heʼll get a new trial

Many international groups had been asking for Zamora to be freed. They thought he was in jail because of his investigations into powerful people. Zamora said he went through psychological torture while in prison – he was kept in the dark for long periods‚ isolated‚ and guards woke him up many times each night

As for the prosecutor (Rafael Curruchiche‚ who heads the prosecutors office that accuses him)‚ the attorney general would do well to open a scholarship fund to send them to study law again

Bernardo Arévalo‚ who became Guatemalas president about 9 months ago‚ was happy about Zamoras release. He posted on X: “Zamora returns home. Justice is beginning to arrive‚ the dark cycle is going to end“

Since Guatemalas prosecutors office started looking into El Periódico‚ eight journalists and writers from the paper (which started about 28 years ago) have left the country

Rafael Curruchiche‚ the prosecutor‚ told reporters he hopes Zamora will face justice now that hes free