U.N. finds arrest of renowned Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora 'arbitrary'
The imprisonment of Guatemalan investigative journalist José Rubén Zamora was found to be "arbitrary" and in violation of international law by a human rights body investigating cases of deprivation of liberty at the United Nations.
The imprisonment of Guatemalan investigative journalist José Rubén Zamora was found to be "arbitrary" and in violation of international law by a human rights body investigating cases of deprivation of liberty at the United Nations.
In a decision made public on Monday, the United Nations' Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Zamora's arrest on July 2022 for alleged financial crimes was the result of his "legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression."
As the founder of the renowned independent investigative newspaper "elPeriódico," Zamora oversaw dozens of investigations into corruption since it was founded in 1996 — making him and his family vulnerable to government-run defamation campaigns, car explosions, illegal raids, kidnappings, death threats and assassination attempts.
At the time of Zamora's arrest, the newspaper had published stories pointing to 144 cases of corruption during the administration of then-President Eduardo Giammattei.
Some of the most notorious involved corruption in the purchase of Covid-19 vaccines and bribery of Guatemalan officials doing business with Russian miners, according to Zamora's son, José Carlos Zamora Marroquín.
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