Call for the release of elPeriódico editor, held in appalling conditions!

Zamora was arrested on 29 July 2022, five days after El Periódico published information about cases of corruption involving people close to President Alejandro Giammattei. Eight journalists who used to work for the newspaper are also accused of obstructing justice in connection with a separate case against Zamora. Most of them have fled the country, as has Zamora’s wife, who left the day before the verdict was announced.

The journalist has been in prison for a year in Guatemala. Subjected to judicial harassment, in June 2023 he was sentenced to six years in prison on trumped-up charges. The six-year sentence, imposed 10 days before the first round of the presidential election, was intended to sow terror and dissuade journalists from publishing  investigations that could embarrass the government.

It is clear that Zamora is a scapegoat and that his conviction is being used to send a message to the whole professions. During a joint mission to the country last May, RSF was able to observe the judicial harassment targeting journalists who investigate corruption or simply cover trials of those close to power. This criminalisation of journalism has increased in recent years, driving at least 20 journalists into exile, according to the Guatemalan Association of Journalists (APG).

Democracy and journalism are in danger in Guatemala. Jose Rubén Zamora’s conviction without a fair trial and the judicial persecution against his newspaper are unacceptable.