Miami, Apr 25 (EFE).- The Inter-American Press Association (SIP) warned this Tuesday that the Guatemalan Public Ministry (MP, Prosecutor’s Office) has taken actions, during 2023, that degrade press freedom in the Central American country.
The IAPA report in reference to Guatemala was published prior to its semi-annual meeting held in Miami, Florida (USA), from April 25 to 27, and its central axis is the case of renowned journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, detained since July 29, 2022.
The Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office “continues to impose restrictions” that prevent Zamora Marroquín from defending himself against the accusations of alleged money laundering against him, the report highlights.
The statement details that Zamora Marroquín, who will face a trial for alleged money laundering in May, has been left without lawyers because the Prosecutor’s Office has accused his defenders of various crimes.
On April 20, lawyer Juan Francisco Solórzano Foppa, former defense attorney for the 67-year-old journalist, was arrested for allegedly obstructing criminal proceedings in the case of Zamora Marroquín.
Zamora Marroquín, with more than 30 years of journalistic experience, was captured in his home, just five days after launching strong criticisms of corruption against the president of Guatemala, Alejandro Giammattei, and his inner circle.
THEY POINT JUDGE AND PROSECUTOR
The Inter-American Press Association pointed out that the prosecutor of the Public Ministry Cinthya Monterroso and the judge of First Instance of the judicial body Jimi Bremer have “ignored” freedom of expression.
This is because they requested and allowed six journalists and columnists for the morning newspaper El Periódico, founded by Zamora Marroquín, to be investigated for alleged anomalies in their investigations and publications on February 28.
According to the report, some of the journalists chose to leave the country for fear of an “illegal investigation and eventual arrest warrants.”
In the last six months, Guatemalan journalists have denounced that many information sources have self-censored for fear of “judicial harassment”, details the IAPA account.
In addition, community journalist Eduardo Mendizábal, who reported through the page “Visor de Villa Canales”, was murdered on the outskirts of Guatemala City on March 19.
The mid-year meeting of the IAPA will be inaugurated this Tuesday by its president, the American Michael Greenspon, global director of Printing Licensing and Innovation at The New York Times Company, and Carlos Jornet, president of the Freedom of the Press and Information Commission of the IAPA and director of the newspaper La Voz del Interior, of Argentina.
