Guatemala: PEN International welcomes the release of Jose Rubén Zamora to house arrest, calls for all charges to be dropped
‘José Rubén Zamora should never have been imprisoned for his journalism. The authorities must immediately drop all charges and put an end to this judicial harassment, which has sent an intimidating message to the entire Guatemalan press’. Romana Cacchioli, Executive Director of PEN International.
13 February 2026 — PEN International welcomes the judicial ruling issued on 12 February 2026 granting house arrest to the Guatemalan journalist Jose Rubén Zamora Marroquín, founder of elPeriódico, who has been arbitrarily detained since 29 July 2022. Zamora has been transferred to house arrest from prison while he faces ongoing proceedings on an alleged charge of money laundering, which has been widely denounced as an act of judicial harassment for his investigations into state corruption.
On 29 July 2022, the National Civil Police arrested Zamora at his home on trumped-up charges of money laundering, blackmailing, influence peddling and conspiracy to launder money, while also carrying out a raid at elPeriódico’s newsroom and freezing Zamora’s and the newspaper’s assets. Following Zamora's detention, elPeriódico has been subjected to relentless political, financial, and legal harassment, forcing nine journalists into exile. ElPeriódico ceased operations on 15 May 2023.
The legal proceedings against Zamora have been marked by irregularities and undue restrictions. During his trial, he faced severe obstacles, including limitations on his ability to present exculpatory evidence and witnesses, the harassment and persecution of his legal defence team, the abusive use of pretrial detention, as well as the alleged disappearance of documents from the case file. The granting of house arrest does not remedy the more than three years of arbitrary detention he has faced, nor does it bring an end to the judicial harassment against him.
In June 2023, he was sentenced to six years in prison for money laundering; although a court of appeals overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial, repeated delays have unduly prolonged his deprivation of liberty. In May 2024, he had already been granted a house arrest measure, but on 10 March 2025, he was returned to prison after an appeals court revoked that decision.
On 2 July 2024, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released an opinion on Zamora’s case, stating that the imprisonment of Zamora is arbitrary, and that his ‘detention was a result of the legitimate exercise of the right to freedom of expression’. The opinion declared that ‘no trial should be held’, and an ‘appropriate remedy would be to immediately release Mr. Zamora’ and provide him with proper compensation.
PEN International urgently calls on the Guatemalan authorities to immediately and unconditionally drop all pending charges against José Rubén Zamora Marroquín and to put an end to any form of judicial harassment against him. It further urges the Guatemalan government to ensure that the justice system is not used as a mechanism to silence critical journalism and to adopt effective measures to protect freedom of expression in the country.
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