GUATEMALA CITY (AP) — A Guatemalan tribunal convicted newspaper founder and editor José Rubén Zamora Wednesday of money laundering, concluding a trial press freedom groups decried as a political persecution aimed at silencing a critical voice.
Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei, and specifically his justice system, have been criticized internationally for backsliding on democratic principles and weaponizing the country’s prosecutors and courts to pursue perceived enemies.
Giammattei has denied there was any political motivation.
Zamora’s El Periodico newspaper was known as fiercely independent and published investigations about corruption in the administrations of Giammattei and his predecessors. Zamora’s work has been internationally recognized.
The three-judge panel cleared Zamora of additional charges of blackmail and influence peddling.
In his final comments to the court Wednesday before the verdict was announced, Zamora maintained his innocence and called for the court to release him, saying, “all of my rights were violated.” He said the government did not allow him the right to a defense. “They treated us like criminals, they destroyed evidence,” he said.
Several of his defense lawyers were arrested in the run-up to the trial.
Sonia Pérez D., The Associated Press