Prosecutor charges four crimes against opposition journalist in Guatemala

The Guatemalan prosecutor’s office on Monday charged four crimes against local journalist José Rubén Zamora, head of the newspaper El Periódicoa medium critical of the government of President Alejandro Giammattei and the attorney general, Consuelo Porras.

Prosecutor Cinthya Monterroso, in the continuity of the first statement hearing before Judge Freddy Orellana in the capital’s courts, presented the alleged tests and evidence against the communicator arrested last week.

The official stated that Zamora was able to incur in the crimes of money laundering, conspiracy, influence peddling and blackmail.

According to the indictment, Zamora asked banker Ronald García to help him enter 300,000 quetzales ($37,500) into the banking system to hide “the true origin” of the funds.

In the diligence, the prosecution presented the money in cash that Zamora supposedly had delivered to the banker by means of a messenger, which was documented. The money was processed and packed.

Monterroso commented that García told them that the journalist possibly obtained this money from several businessmen whom he “blackmailed” not to publish information against you. Likewise, García was the one who filed a lawsuit on July 26.

Last Wednesday at the beginning of the hearing, Zamora reiterated that the president and the attorney general are behind his arrestin a case that he called “assembly”.

The Guatemalan government a day earlier disassociated itself from Zamora’s arrest, which has provoked a wave of calls to respect freedom of expression and alerts of attacks against independent media.

The journalist was captured on Friday at his residence, raided as well as the newspaper’s headquarterswhich publishes complaints about alleged cases of corruption involving Giammattei and Porras, sanctioned by the United States.

The Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI), in charge of the investigations, maintains that the accusation against Zamora is “as a businessman” and not as a journalist, an affirmation that the newspaper and the press union reject.

Samari Gómez, assistant prosecutor of the FECI, was also arrested for the process against Zamora, accused of disclosing confidential or reserved information. Both are in pretrial detention.