2023-10-14 00:04:00
The journalist and founder of the morning newspaper elPeriódico, José Rubén Zamora, in an archive photograph (EFE/Edwin Bercián)
A Guatemalan Appeals Chamber annulled the conviction once morest journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín and ordered a repeat of the judicial process in which he was found guilty of money laundering last June.
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Zamora Marroquín’s son, Ramón Zamora, confirmed this Friday the revocation of the sentence, decreed yesterday by the second Appeals chamber of the Guatemalan Judiciary.
“We hope that now we will be able to have a fair trial where his right to defense is respected,” said Zamora Marroquín’s son.
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The 66-year-old communicator was sentenced to six years in prison on June 12, for an alleged case of money laundering.
His arrest took place on July 29, 2022, just five days following launching strong accusations of corruption in the media he owned, El Periódico, to the closest circle of the current president, Alejandro Giammattei.
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The court’s decision follows a request from the Attorney General’s Office and Zamora Marroquín himself, and forces the journalist to face a new legal process also for blackmail and other crimes.
The capture in 2022 and conviction in 2023 of Zamora Marroquín has been strongly criticized both nationally and internationally (REUTERS/Luis Echeverria)
The capture in 2022 and conviction in 2023 of Zamora Marroquín has been strongly criticized both nationally and internationally.
The journalist has been one of the most critical of the governments in power since the founding of El Periódico in 1996, with hundreds of corruption investigations.
During the criminal proceedings once morest him, Zamora Marroquín reported a violation of his right to defense and was forced to change lawyers seven times, since four of his defenders ended up indicted, accused of different crimes.
In 2021, Zamora Marroquín received the award for outstanding media in Ibero-America from the King of Spain, Felipe VI, for the investigative work that El Periódico carried out for almost 30 years, until its closure on May 15.
Two years ago, the communicator publicly assured that Giammattei and the attorney general and head of the Public Ministry, Consuelo Porras, would try to fabricate a case once morest him to silence his media’s investigations.
Porras is under strong pressure since since October 2, thousands of people in Guatemala have demonstrated to demand his resignation, accused of trying to modify this year’s electoral results.
In his last intervention before the court before his conviction in June, Zamora had reaffirmed that he is innocent and that his rights were violated, especially those of defense and due process, to the point that he met his defense lawyer minutes before the trial began. ex officio.
“I ask the court to issue an acquittal and give me my freedom because the Public Ministry might not prove (the accusations),” Zamora said.
(With information from EFE)
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