The way in which the imprisoned journalist José Rubén Zamora is being prosecuted by the Guatemalan authorities is “shamefully unacceptable” and “is worthy of the attention of the highest international authorities,” says a letter signed by more than 25 journalists and writers from that country and other nations, among them the Mexican Juan Villoro, the Nicaraguan Sergio Ramírez and the Indian Salman Rushdie.
According to the letter, the also President of elPeriódico -one of the largest newspapers in the nation- was arrested on charges of money laundering, influence peddling and blackmail, and since then he has been held in isolation in the detention center Marshal Zavala.
The journalist, the text adds, faces severe restrictions on visits, is in a cell measuring two by three meters, “very humid and cold, and with a small open wall space for ventilation.”
“He is entitled to one hour of sunshine a day,” the letter states.
“One would say that the intention of the authorities is that Mr. Zamora becomes depressed and possibly commits suicide,” said one of the sources cited in the text.
Throughout the process, the journalist has been represented by three different teams because his lawyers have also been imprisoned or intimidated by the authorities, and for the trial, which begins on May 2, he relies only on a public defender, in a country where the judicial institutions and the entire state apparatus are plagued by corruption, the letter states.
“(The persecution against Zamora) represents the systematic degradation of basic human rights, such as freedom of expression, equality before the law and the right to defense,” the text warns.
Zamora was arrested on the afternoon of July 29 at his home with excessive use of force. More than twenty heavily armed agents of the National Civil Police entered his home through the roof, the letter says, “as if he were a dangerous and violent criminal.”
The case is based on the statement of a single witness, “a businessman who in turn has been prosecuted on corruption charges,” according to the LATAM Journalism Review magazine cited in the letter.
“(And) among the prosecutors and plaintiffs who have promoted this case, three appear on the Engel list, which includes the names of Guatemalan, Honduran and Salvadoran people who have committed acts of corruption or have participated in actions to undermine democracy, and that the Department of State of the United States has been publishing as of 2022”, the text expands.
If found guilty, Zamora faces 34 years in prison.
The newspaper he heads, elPeriódico, has also been affected: in November it stopped circulating in its printed version due to the “attacks, harassment and economic blockades” that put its directors, editors and journalists at risk, according to what Juan Diego said at the time. Godoy, digital director of elPeriódico.
Since Zamora was arrested, various groups have demanded his release, and with protests outside the prison, have denounced the criminalization of the press in the country.
The letter was signed by prominent journalists and writers such as Americans Jon Lee Anderson and Richard Ford, Peruvian-American Daniel Alarcón, and Mexican Guadalupe Nettel, as well as several Guatemalans who preferred not to identify themselves for fear of reprisals.
