A prominent Guatemalan newspaper editor who has overseen investigations into corruption was arrested, prompting denunciations on Saturday by politicians, anticorruption advocates and civic groups.
Prosecution agents arrested Jose Ruben Zamora Marroquin at his home on Friday night, searching his residence, seizing telephones and accusing him of money laundering. Zamora Marroquin is a prize-winning journalist who heads the newspaper El Periodico.
“This is an orchestrated plan, where the aim now is not to pursue those who are corrupt, but rather opponents,” human rights advocate Eleonora Muralles said. “The strategy is to coopt the whole system and have judges — with serious doubts about their impartiality — put together cases and evidence against opponents.”
Photo: Reuters
Journalists on Saturday protested outside a courthouse where the case is being heard.
US Representative James McGovern wrote that he was “deeply concerned” by the detention.
“The judiciary is already decimated, is the Free Press next? Journalism is not a crime!” McGovern wrote on Twitter.
Zamora Marroquin has declared a hunger strike.
“I haven’t eaten anything nor drunk any water in 36 hours,” he said, speaking before a court hearing.
The US government has sharply criticized the weakening of anti-corruption efforts in Guatemala and last year canceled the US visa of Guatemalan Attorney General Consuelo Porras, who has been pursuing former prosecutors who had been conducting corruption investigations against officials.
Several former anti-corruption officials have fled the country. Now that effort appears to have extended to journalists.
Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei has been dismissive of US officials’ criticism of his attorney general and what they see as a backsliding in Guatemala on battling 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 efforts started by his predecessor to undo a UN-backed anti-corruption campaign that put several top officials, including former presidents, behind bars. They say those prosecutions themselves were irregular.
Moreover, a number of the Guatemalans, including two Supreme Court magistrates, were allegedly involved in a scheme to stack the Supreme and Appellate Courts with corrupt judges, a US Department of State report said.
Separately on Saturday, Guatemalan military exchanged fire with the passengers of a vehicle as it approached the location of Giammattei’s entourage, an army spokesman said.
Military officials stopped the vehicle as it neared a checkpoint guarding the presidential delegation during a visit by Giammattei to the area of Huehuetenango, 300km east of Guatemala City, the spokesman said.
The occupants of the vehicle opened fire on the soldiers, who returned fire. Giammattei was about 2km away at the time.
One of the gunmen, who is Mexican, was injured in the confrontation, the government said in a statement.
The others fled in the vehicle toward the Mexican border about 80km, it added.
Four Guatemalans were later detained by the Mexican military, the Guatemalan government said. Two rifle grenades were also found over the border in Mexico.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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