Arrest of prominent Guatemalan journalist leads to conviction OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
GUATEMALA CITY (AP) – A prominent Guatemalan newspaper editor who oversaw corruption investigations has been arrested, prompting convictions on Saturday by politicians, anti-corruption activists and civil society groups.
Prosecutors arrested José Ruben Zamora Marroquín at his home Friday night, searched his home, seized phones and charged him with money laundering. Zamora Marroquín is an award-winning journalist who heads the newspaper El Periodico.
“This is an orchestrated plan, where the goal now is not to pursue corrupt people, but rather opponents,” said human rights activist Eleonora Muralles. “The strategy is to co-opt the whole system and let judges – with serious doubts about their impartiality – collect cases and evidence against opponents.”
Journalists protested outside a courthouse where the case is being heard on Saturday.
US Congressman James P. McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, wrote that he was “deeply concerned” about the detention.
McGovern wrote in his Twitter account: “The judiciary has already been decimated, is the Free Press next? Journalism is not a crime!”
Zamora Marroquín has declared a hunger strike. During a court hearing, he said, “I haven’t eaten or drunk anything in 36 hours.”
The US government has strongly criticized the weakening of anti-corruption efforts in Guatemala and last year revoked the US visa of Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who was prosecuting former prosecutors who had conducted corruption investigations against officials.
More than a dozen former anti-corruption officials have fled the country. Now that effort seems to have extended to journalists.
Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei has criticized US officials’ criticism of his attorney general and what they see as Guatemala’s backlash in fighting corruption. The country’s new special prosecutor against impunity has been placed on a US list of people suspected of corruption or undermining democracy. He is accused of obstructing corruption investigations.
Giammattei’s government and prosecutors accelerated his predecessor’s efforts to undo a UN-backed anti-corruption campaign that put several top officials, including former presidents, behind bars. They say those persecutions themselves were irregular.
In addition, a number of Guatemalans, including two Supreme Court magistrates, are alleged to be involved in a plan to stuff the Supreme Court and appeals courts with corrupt judges, according to the State Department report.