The newspaper the Guatemalan newspaper announced its permanent closure on Friday due to “criminal proceedings and economic pressure” after the arrest last year of its owner, José Rubén Zamora, a government critic who has denounced alleged acts of corruption.
“With deep sadness, we are forced to discontinue the daily edition of elPeriódico” after almost 27 years of existence, the newspaper announced in a statement.
The Guatemalan government is under the orders of President Alejandro Giammattei, after winning the second-round elections in 2019.
Giammattei identifies with the centre-right, with a guaranteed place in the business world.
May 15, last post
“elPeriódico will stop publishing any type of news on May 15th. The Aldea Global publishing house will continue to function to deal with the responsibilities it still has,” Ramón Zamora, son of the newspaper’s owner, told AFP.
elPeriódico stressed that he received a “strong blow” when Zamora was arrested for money laundering allegations on July 29, 2022.
“From that moment the battle to resist began and the forecasts were not promising,” he added, since the paper ended its print edition last November.
“It’s past ten arduous months of resistance and struggle. We thought we could adapt, transform and survive “with the digital edition”.
Zamora accused the Guatemalan president and attorney general, Consuelo Porras, of directly fabricating the case. sanctioned by the US for “corruption” in 2021.
According to elPeriódico, following the arrest of Zamorafour lawyers were arrested, two remain in jail, six journalists and two columnists for the company are under investigation by the special prosecution against impunity (Feci).
The Zamora process
The trial against Zamora, which began on May 2 and after which he could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison has provoked international criticism and complaints of attacks on freedom of expression in Guatemala, and joins wave of arrests of former prosecutors which investigated known corruption cases in the country.
“The undemocratic and corrupt system that dominates the country today is implacable and it is not enough that it imprisoned our founder by inventing a case until it brought him before an inquisitorial court,” elPeriódico said in an editorial on Wednesday.
“There is no such thing as a personal dictatorship, but there is something that could be even worse, as they have created a ‘dictatorship of the system’ where it doesn’t matter who rules, power remains in the hands of the mafias“, stressed the morning.
According to the indictment, Zamora, a 66-year-old industrial engineer with a master’s degree in banking and finance, is allegedly involved in a plot to launder $37,500 this would come from blackmailing businessmen not to publish information against them.
On February 28, a judge ordered the opening of a second trial against Zamora, for allegedly trying to stop a money laundering investigation in 2021.
On May 3, during his speech at the hearing, Zamora denied the accusations made against him by the Feci and said he considered himself “a political prisoner”, believing that the case was in retaliation for his publications on corruption in the government.
AFP extension
ap
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.