The Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office announced new charges against the owner of the opposition newspaper El Periódico

The Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office announced new charges against the owner of the opposition newspaper El Periódico. (AFP)

The Guatemalan Prosecutor’s Office announced this Thursday a second criminal case against the owner of the opposition newspaper El Periódico, José Rubén Zamora, who will face a controversial trial in May for alleged money laundering.

Zamora, imprisoned since last July, was accused in this new case of participating in a “possible conspiracy” to “obstruct” an investigation against him also for money laundering, prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche said in a video posted on his Twitter account. .

Curruchiche, head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI), indicated that Zamora and others involved “met [en 2021] to plan the diversion of the investigation” of a possible laundering in 2013 through the company Aldea Global, parent company of the newspaper.

However, he did not detail how the money got to the media outlet.

The “possibly involved” were “alarmed” after the dismissal in July 2021 of the then head of the FECI, Juan Francisco Sandoval, the entity that led the investigation, he said.

Curruchiche, head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Impunity (FECI), indicated that Zamora and others involved “met [en 2021] to plan the diversion of the investigation” of a possible laundering in 2013 through the company Aldea Global, parent company of the newspaper.

Mario Castañeda, one of Zamora’s lawyers, was arrested for the case on Tuesday, and the arrest of Roberto Montoya, also part of the journalist’s defense team, is pending, Curruchiche said.

Zamora was summoned to testify for the new process on January 31 along with Flora Silva, former financial director of the newspaper, who in December was sentenced to three commutable years in prison in an abbreviated process after accepting the charge of money laundering in the first accusation against the journalist.

According to that accusation, Zamora participated in a blackmail and money laundering scheme against businessmen in exchange for not publishing information against him for about $37,500. The start of the controversial trial was scheduled for May 2.

Zamora, 66, maintains that he is “politically persecuted” and that his case was fabricated by the president, Alejandro Giammattei, and the attorney general, Consuelo Porras, to silence him for publications on corruption.

In 2021, the United States included Porras on a list of those involved in acts of corruption or that undermine democracy after firing Sandoval, considered by Washington as an “anti-corruption champion.”

Zamora, 66, maintains that he is “politically persecuted” and that his case was fabricated by the president, Alejandro Giammattei, and the attorney general, Consuelo Porras, to silence him for publications on corruption. (Reuters)

Curruchiche was also included in the same list last year.

Zamora’s arrest is considered by various sectors as an attack against freedom of expression and caused concern in the international community. His capture followed the arrest and prosecution of several former prosecutors investigating corruption cases.

(With information from AFP)

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