Authorities say that Zamora, who’s the director of the newspaper El Periódico, is suspected of involvement in a cash laundering case.
But his son José Carlos Zamora informed CNN that he believed the arrest was an act of retaliation, and an try at censorship because of the newspaper’s criticism of President Alejandro Giammattei’s authorities.
Zamora “is among the fundamental critics of the federal government of Alejandro Giammattei, and his arrest passed off 5 days after robust complaints towards a number of officers and former officers for corruption in a Sunday part of the morning paper,” El Periodico stated in a press release posted on Twitter.
Zamora’s arrest “just isn’t associated to his exercise as a journalist,” particular prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche informed radio station Emisoras Unidas.
Authorities raided the newspaper’s places of work and Zamora’s house earlier than arresting him, Curruchiche additionally stated.
CNN has requested prosecutors for extra data however has not but obtained a response. CNN has additionally reached out to Zamora’s authorized illustration however has not but obtained a response.
“Guatemalan authorities ought to instantly launch and drop any prison fees towards journalist José Rubén Zamora, president of elPeriódico,” stated Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, the Advocacy Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The US State Department’s undersecretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, Brian Nichols, additionally spoke out towards Zamora’s detention on Twitter, urging Guatemala towards “full respect of due course of.”
Freedom of the press is enshrined in Guatemala’s structure. However, journalists have been more and more focused for his or her reporting lately, in line with press freedom group Reporters with out Borders (RSF).
“Journalists and media retailers who examine or criticize acts of corruption and human rights violations continuously endure aggression within the type of harassment campaigns and prison prosecution,” RSF stated.
The group ranked Guatemala 124 of 180 nations worldwide on its annual Press Freedom Index in 2022.
Many journalists in Guatemala really feel they’re being watched, stated Evelyn Blanck, a journalist and coordinator of Centro Civitas, a corporation for freedom of expression.
“Now we’re watching the response of El Periódico. And since (police) additionally raided the newspaper’s services and had been there for greater than 12 hours, we need to know in the event that they took paperwork, we need to know in the event that they touched the tools. In different phrases, we’re involved in regards to the safety of the newsroom,” Blanck informed CNN.
She additionally pointed to a development of assaults towards the press elsewhere within the area — citing the instance of Nicaragua specifically, the place arrests of critics and newsroom raids have been repeatedly documented because the nation’s mass protests in 2018.
“My opinion is that what has occurred is that these anti-democratic actors have fastidiously considered [Nicaraguan President Daniel] Ortega’s actions and have additionally evaluated the worldwide response. And in that sense, the case of Nicaragua has been a precedent for what has now occurred in El Salvador, in Guatemala.”