• José Rubén Zamora Marroqun is being investigated for money laundering.
• His son says he believes the arrest is in retaliation for his newspaper’s criticism of the government.
• Special prosecutor: Zamora’s arrest “is not related to his activity as a journalist”.

On Friday, police in Guatemala City arrested prominent journalist José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, drawing condemnation from human rights and press freedom advocacy groups.

According to authorities, José Rubén Zamora Marroquín, the director of the newspaper El Periódico, is being investigated for money laundering.

However, his son, José Carlos Zamora, told CNN that he believed the arrest was in retaliation for the newspaper’s criticism of President Alejandro Giammattei’s government.

Zamora “is one of the main critics of the government of Alejandro Giammattei, and his arrest took place five days after strong complaints against several officials and former officials for corruption in a Sunday section of the morning paper,” El Periodico said in a Twitter statement.

According to special prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche, Zamora’s arrest  “is not related to his activity as a journalist,”

Curruchiche also stated that authorities raided the newspaper’s offices and Zamora’s home before arresting him.
CNN has requested additional information from prosecutors but has yet to receive a response. CNN has also contacted Zamora’s legal counsel, but has yet to receive a response.

“Guatemalan authorities should immediately release and drop any criminal charges against journalist José Rubén Zamora, president of elPeriódico,” said Gypsy Guillén Kaiser, Advocacy Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Brian Nichols, the US State Department’s undersecretary for Western Hemisphere affairs, also spoke out on Twitter against Zamora’s detention, urging Guatemala to “full respect of due process.”

Guatemala’s constitution guarantees press freedom. However, according to the press freedom organisation Reporters Without Borders, journalists have been increasingly targeted for their reporting in recent years (RSF).

“Journalists and media outlets who investigate or criticize acts of corruption and human rights violations frequently suffer aggression in the form of harassment campaigns and criminal prosecution,”RSF stated.

In 2022, Guatemala was ranked 124 out of 180 countries on the organization’s annual Press Freedom Index.

Many journalists in Guatemala believe they are being watched, according to Evelyn Blanck, a journalist and coordinator of Centro Civitas, a free expression organization.

“Now we are watching the reaction of El Periódico. And since (police) also raided the newspaper’s facilities and were there for more than 12 hours, we want to know if they took documents, we want to know if they touched the equipment. In other words, we are concerned about the security of the newsroom,” Blanck stated to CNN.

She also cited a regional trend of attacks on the press, citing Nicaragua in particular, where critics’ arrests and newsroom raids have been repeatedly documented since the country’s mass protests in 2018.

“My opinion is that what has happened is that these anti-democratic actors have carefully viewed [Nicaraguan President Daniel] Ortega’s actions and have also evaluated the international reaction. And in that sense, the case of Nicaragua has been a precedent for what has now happened in El Salvador, in Guatemala.”

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