Guatemalan journalist Jose Ruben Zamora has been released from prison and is under house arrest.

Guatemalan journalist José Rubén Zamora, former director of the newspaper elperiodicoThis Saturday, Mariscal Zavala left the military prison for his home, where he had not returned for 812 days. Zamora was granted house arrest Friday night after a long day in court. He is accused in two cases of various crimes including money laundering. Zamora is considered a political prisoner persecuted by the government of former President Alejandro Giammattei (2020–2024), whom he investigated and criticized during his administration, and the Attorney General, Consuelo Porras, designated him a United States Department of Justice angel. included in the list. The state, which registers corrupt and undemocratic people.

“I feel extremely happy. “Your support, the support of the world’s free press, the ICPJ, the International Center for Journalists and other organizations I don’t know about, have been extraordinary,” he told reporters in front of the prison’s gray gates, which awaited him. Was doing. He was wearing a white shirt and jeans. Many times he even had to control his tears. However, the journalist was not very optimistic about the process he was facing. “I think they’re going to try to lock me up again,” he warned. “If they are going to bring me back, I will wait for them again at my home and come here again. I think these types of actions are killing them, not him. He said, “I have the passion, courage and confidence to move forward.”

Former human rights attorney Jorge de León, and journalist and Zamora’s cousin Gonzalo Marroquín, had entered the prison earlier in a white van to accompany him upon his return. “This is merely an opportunity being given after more than 800 days of unfair imprisonment. So I think this is a success for Guatemala, for the Guatemalan justice system and for freedom of the press,” Marroquín said.

Outside the prison in the capital, a group of people arrived to witness Zamora’s release. “I really think that imprisonment has had an impact not only on José Rubén, but on many others, it will have an impact on all of us, because there is no free expression of opinion. They are limiting us in our actions and I believe that the country really deserves and needs change,” commented 61-year-old auditor Berta Méndez.

Ruling in favor of Zamora, the court considered that “the prison term exceeded the limit for human rights reasons.” Judge Eric Garcia, who conducted the hearing, also decided that the journalists would not be able to leave the country without permission.

Zamora was isolated and during the first 17 months he was the victim of ill-treatment classified as torture by various organizations in defense of human rights. The newspaper he founded in the nineties, elperiodico, He disappeared last year as a result of his arrest and efforts by the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate its journalists. The medium was known for its investigative reports and exposing the corruption of governments in power. The journalist was linked to two cases of alleged money laundering, obstruction of justice and other crimes.

“Zamora returned home. Justice has begun to arrive, the dark cycle is about to end, President Bernardo Arévalo wrote on the social network X on Friday. His words refer to a phase of corruption and impunity promoted by a sector of the judiciary. This week, Guatemala’s courts replaced their leadership, but concerns remain about the independence of justice and democratic stability in the Central American country. Most of the judges who would make up the Supreme Court (CSJ) and some of the Court of Appeal appeared in a famous corruption case, known as the Parallel Commission. In addition, jurists took positions sponsored by old political operators who were jailed for rigging the Cortes elections in 2014 and 2019, or by interrogated deputies.

Zamora was imprisoned in the cells of the Mariscal Zavala Barracks in Guatemala City. He always said that the cases against him were fabricated. “I am being judged for permanently condemning corruption and defending freedom of expression in the country. And I am being subjected to judicial processes without any guarantees and the right to defence,” he decried. “I always knew I would not let myself lose,” he said in an interview with EL PAÍS from prison last February.

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