"A Guatemalan court ruled this Monday [June 19] that government-critical journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín must not pay the fine the State had requested, after being convicted in an alleged money laundering case. Judge Oly González ruled that 'it's not legitimate' for Zamora Marroquín to pay a fine as a dignified reparation to the State […]
"A Guatemalan court sentenced journalist José Rubén Zamora to six years in prison on Wednesday [June 14] for the crime of money laundering, which the editor of the newspaper elPeriódico has denied throughout his year-long trial. The court decided to acquit Zamora of the other two charges against him, which were blackmail and influence peddling, […]
"Nine years have passed since journalist Norma Sancir was arrested by the National Civil Police (PNC, by its Spanish acronym) and jailed for five days while covering a community protest in Camotán, Chiquimula [Guatemala]. Three agents and a commissioner are now being prosecuted for abuse of authority. The defense has maintained a strategy of delaying […]
"On Tuesday [May 30], the Special Prosecutor's Office Against Impunity (FECI, by its acronym in Spanish) of Guatemala's Public Prosecutor's Office asked for 40 years in prison for journalist José Rubén Zamora, founder of Guatemalan newspaper elPeriódico, for alleged crimes of money laundering, influence peddling and blackmail. The prosecution's request is for 20 years in […]
"A Guatemalan court suspended this Wednesday [May 17] the start of deliberations against four agents of the National Civil Police (PNC, by its Spanish acronym), accused of the illegal arrest of community journalist Norma Sancir in 2014, due to the fact that one of the accused did not show up. Police agent Marcelina López was […]
On May 2, José Rubén Zamora, president of the Guatemalan newspaper elPeriódico, begins his trial on charges of money laundering, blackmail and influence peddling. The journalist was arrested on July 29, 2022 following the complaint of a witness and after the Guatemalan Public Prosecutor's Office gathered, in just 72 hours, the evidence used to justify […]
"Nearly a hundred journalists from various media outlets in Guatemala staged a demonstration on Saturday [March 4] in front of the country's Supreme Court in protest for a judge's decision to investigate nine journalists due to their publications on different allegations. The demonstration was also to protest against the case of another journalist critical of […]
"The Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday called on Guatemalan authorities to stop any investigation of columnists and employees of elPeriódico newspaper, release its president José Rubén Zamora unconditionally, and allow the newspaper’s staff to work freely. Judge Jimi Bremer, acting on a request by prosecutor Cinthya Monterroso of the Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office, ordered an […]
"In the hearing where the president of elPeriódico, José Ruben Zamora, was indicted for a second case in which he is accused of conspiracy to obstruct justice, the Public Prosecutor's Office requested that the investigation be extended to journalists and independent news outlets. It argues that their publications hindered the work of the Public Prosecutor's […]
"The Tenth Court of First Criminal Instance [of Guatemala] convicted this Tuesday, Feb. 21, attorney Mario Castañeda, who defended the president of the newspaper elPeriódico, José Rubén Zamora. [...] Judge Jimmi Bremmer issued a three-year commuted prison sentence against the lawyer for the crime of conspiracy to obstruct justice. [...] The head of the Special […]
"This Tues. [Jan. 31], a Guatemalan court charged renowned journalist and main opponent of President Alejandro Giammattei, José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, for alleged obstruction of justice. This brings to two the number of criminal proceedings opened against the founder of El Periódico. Zamora Marroquín is also accused of money laundering, for which he has been […]
"Daniel Ortega's regime in Nicaragua closes and confiscates media outlets, imprisons journalists and forces them into exile. But attacks on press freedom are spreading throughout the region: Nayib Bukele in El Salvador and other Central American presidents are following Ortega's handbook. In this special episode we talk [in Spanish] with Octavio Enriquez, a Nicaraguan journalist […]