"Guatemala’s Constitutional Court on Tuesday confirmed house arrest for journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, accepting a second withdrawal by the Attorney General’s Office of an appeal aimed at returning the elPeriódico founder to prison. The ruling establishes that the challenged decision remains final and in full legal effect, preserving Zamora’s current status under alternative precautionary […]
"The Association of the Press of Huehuetenango filed a complaint with Guatemala’s public prosecutor’s office and called for a ‘rigorous and transparent’ investigation into the killing of 34-year-old journalist Evelio Lisandro López Sánchez, which occurred Friday, Oct. 2, in San Pedro Necta, in the department of Huehuetenango. López Sánchez, founder and director of the local […]
"The Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression (SRFOE) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) condemns the murder of journalist Emerson Dinael Colindres in Guatemala. It calls on the authorities to conduct diligent, thorough, and impartial investigations to identify, prosecute, and punish those responsible for this crime, as well as to adopt effective measures […]
"A small group of highly active users, including several prominent public figures in Guatemala, led a structured, organized, and strategically amplified campaign on X against Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora, who has been arbitrarily detained for more than 1,000 days. This is one of the findings of an independent study analyzing 675,835 posts on X […]
“The CEO of [Guatemalan digital news outlet] República, Rodrigo Arenas, publicly denounced Thursday, Aug. 13, an alleged plan to carry out attacks against him and members of his editorial team […]. In a public statement, Arenas said information related to the threats had already been shared with the relevant authorities and representatives of friendly embassies, […]
"The Second Court of Appeals has annulled, for the second time, the 2023 conviction of journalist José Rubén Zamora and ordered a new trial before the Ninth Criminal Sentencing Tribunal. The resolution complies with an October 2025 order by the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (CSJ), which had returned the case file […]
"If you look closely at the threats facing Guatemalan journalists, one name repeatedly emerges: the Foundation Against Terrorism (FCT). Due to its intensifying abusive legal proceedings and online hate campaigns, the organisation has become emblematic of the repression targeting people who fight corruption, including journalists. Since 2022, the FCT has played a central role in […]
"The full bench of magistrates of the Constitutional Court accepted the Public Ministry's (MP) withdrawal of the appeal presented by the former head of the FECI, Rafael Curruchiche, which sought to reactivate a criminal investigation against journalists and columnists who worked at the defunct newspaper elPeriódico. The decision implies archiving that legal resource within the […]
"Guatemala's Public Prosecutor's Office dropped the criminal proceedings initiated in 2022 against several journalists by former Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been sanctioned by the United States for corruption. The decision was confirmed this Monday [June 8] by one of the journalists facing legal prosecution, Alexánder Valdez, after he was notified via a formal […]
"A group of journalists asked Guatemala’s highest court on Tuesday [June 2] to respect freedom of expression during a hearing called by the judicial body to consider a prosecutor's request aiming to reactivate a criminal case against them—a move the media workers label as persecution. The Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity, or FECI, wants a […]
"Journalist and founder of elPeriódico, José Rubén Zamora, has denounced a new attempt to criminally prosecute and imprison him. The journalist said that the public prosecutor's office is reportedly seeking to push for a new arrest warrant related to journalistic investigations published in 2021 concerning the case known as 'La Alfombra Mágica.' This case was […]
“Journalist Carlos Humberto Cal died after being the victim of an armed attack on the route leading to San Cristóbal Verapaz, [in the Guatemalan department of] Alta Verapaz. According to preliminary information, Cal was intercepted by armed men on Sunday night [April 26]. Volunteer firefighters arrived at the scene and confirmed that the victim showed […]