Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
By Kiera McLaughlin ’26
Global Editor
On June 14, 2023, José Zamora, a prominent Guatemalan journalist, was sentenced to six years in prison on money laundering charges according to BBC World News. Reuters reported that Zamora was issued a fine of 300,000 quetzal, equivalent to $38,339 USD. The charges have been condemned by human rights organizations and described by Zamora himself as “political persecution.” Reuters also reported that the trial and verdict have led human rights groups to call the trial, happening under President Alejandro Giammattei’s administration, an attack on free speech, along with other actions against Zamora’s newspaper and journalists reporting on the corruption of the Guatemalan government.
José Zamora is an acclaimed journalist who has won many international journalism awards for his advocacy for the freedom of the press in Central America—specifically in Guatemala— according to BBC World News. The founder of El Periódico, a Guatemalan news outlet, Zamora has had a long history of reporting on human rights violations, drug trafficking and the guerrilla movement in the country. Due to the charges against Zamora, El Periódico was shut down in May 2023 with journalists being investigated, and the newspaper itself being subjected to several tax audits, reported Al Jazeera.
According to Al Jazeera, the public prosecutor’s office claims that the case has nothing to do with the content of Zamora’s journalism. However, due to his accusations and how fast the case against José Zamora was prepared, many critics believe that Zamora was targeted for his journalism, which speaks out against the current government. Al Jazeera also reported that the case was founded on a former banker’s claims “about a deposit of $38,000 that Zamora allegedly asked someone to make on his behalf, as part of a money-laundering scheme.”
Along with the accusations targeting Zamora and his business, there were many abnormal practices that took place during his trial. The Havana Times reported that Zamora was barred frompresenting documents or witnesses. Additionally, the outlet reported that four of his lawyers were prosecuted by the public prosecutor’s office during the trial, while two others were forced into exile “due to threats.” According to Al Jazeera, along with these irregularities, Zamora made claims that his rights had been violated while the trial took place, including declaring that the public prosecutors “destroyed evidence.”
This instance was also not the first time Zamora had been persecuted by the Guatemalan government or targeted through the law. In an interview with BBC World News, Ramón Zamora, his son, stated that “in 2003 they raided [their] house, they kept the whole family kidnapped for almost four hours and they simulated the execution of [his] father in front of [the family].” BBC World News continued to explain that, since then, José Zamora had been kidnapped in 2008 and was beaten in 2013, along with other threats and attacks. At least 30 other journalists, judges and prosecutors from Guatemala have fled in exile, “denouncing criminal prosecution against them,” between 2018 and 2023, reported The Havana Times.
When asked by Reuters about the money laundering case against him, Zamora responded that he would appeal, and his family has threatened to take the trial to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. He stated, “I feel happy because in the end [the sentence] was arbitrary,” and continued by reaffirming that “[he is] still innocent and [President Giammatei] is still a thief.” According to Reuters, many have come out against the ruling, such as Brian Nichols, assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. In a tweet on June 15, Nichols wrote that the verdict of Zamora’s case “threatens independent journalism and freedom of expression in Guatemala.” Supporting this claim, journalist Renzo Rosal, a political scientist at Guatemala’s Landivar University, explained to Al Jazeera that local and “low-profile” journalists have also faced harassment. He elaborated that “journalists who carry out their work in the interior of the country are victims of the same logic: the logic of persecution, the logic of criminalisation, so that no one can investigate anything.”
This verdict came as the Guatemalan general election, held on June 25, loomed around the corner and, according to Al Jazeera, caused controversy in the nation. BBC World News reports that four of President Giammattei’s opponents were disqualified. Rosal explained to Al Jazeera that “today the elections are another indicator of serious democratic erosion,” and human rights organizations warn that democracy in Guatemala and anti-corruption efforts have had a “sharp rollback,” even during elections.
José Zamora has set an example for journalists working to defend freedom of speech and has brought attention to crime in the Guatemalan government. According to Reuters, Carlos Martinez de la Serna, program director at the Committee to Protect Journalists, said that this verdict demonstrated attempts by the Guatemalan government to criminalize journalists and advocated for Zamora’s release.
Following Zamora’s efforts, the fight for democracy and free speech has not lost hope as people around the world stand with Zamora and his goals for free speech and democracy in Guatemala. Human rights groups have defended him along with drawing attention to the corruption throughout the nation. The fight is not over, and it is clear that Zamora and his relatives are not giving up anytime soon. As Carlos Martinez de la Serna said in his comment about Zamora’s sentence, his “only ‘crime’ has been the fearless exercise of his profession.”