"The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has joined eight other press freedom organizations in urging Guatemala’s leaders to address the concerning decline in the country’s press freedom and its significance for democracy. In a statement issued ahead of the meeting between Guatemala’s President Bernardo Arévalo and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday, March 25, […]
“This Monday, March 18, the Third Court of Appeals rejected the request of the Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity (FECI, for its acronym in Spanish) to annul the resolution of the Fifth Criminal Court that closed the case against several journalists and columnists of elPeriódico, judicial sources reported. With that appeal, the FECI intended to […]
“A Guatemalan judge suspended the hearing [on Feb. 21] in which it was to be decided whether journalist José Rubén Zamora goes to a second trial for allegedly obstructing an investigation against him for which he was already sentenced to six years in prison. The head of the Special Prosecutor's Office Against Corruption, Rafael Curruchiche, […]
“The public prosecutor's office insists on persecuting journalists, while President Bernardo Arévalo assures that his government 'believes in freedom of the press.' According to the Association of Journalists of Guatemala (APG, for its acronym in Spanish), around 25 journalists are in exile due to censorship, attacks or persecution. In this adverse context, the conviction against […]
"The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Pedro Vaca, visited journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín this Monday [Feb. 12] in a prison in Guatemala, where he has been detained since July 29, 2022. According to the IACHR, Rapporteur Vaca is in Guatemala at the invitation of the […]
“Dressed in a black suit, wearing a white shirt and a red tie, this Monday, Feb. 5 journalist José Rubén Zamora attended the opening hearing of the trial against him for the alleged crime of conspiracy to obstruct justice. […] However, the hearing was suspended and postponed to Feb. 20. The reason is that the […]
“A criminal judge in Guatemala found three members of the National Civil Police (PNC, for its acronym in Spanish) guilty this Wednesday [Jan. 31] for the illegal detention of journalist Norma Sancir in 2014. The sentencing judge Jorge Ochoa, of the department (province) of Chiquimula, about 155 miles from Guatemala City, convicted the three police […]
"A joint mission of the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is visiting Guatemala City this week to assess press freedom conditions in the country following the inauguration of President Bernardo Arévalo. [...] The main goal of the mission is to address the difficult situation and numerous challenges faced […]
"Following his inauguration as Guatemala’s president on Jan. 14 , Bernardo Arévalo faces a range of press freedom challenges as a key test of his new government. With a reputation as a reformer, it remains to be seen how Arévalo will act to stop the criminalization of journalism in Guatemala, including addressing the high-profile case […]
“Judge Aurora Gutiérrez, of the Fifth Criminal Court [of Guatemala], ruled that the case being pursued against six journalists and two columnists from the defunct newspaper elPeriódico cannot continue to be resolved through criminal proceedings and now a Printing Court must hear the case, as stipulated in the Constitution of the Republic. The defense of […]